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We currently have a web server running windows server 2003 with a combination of asp and asp.net sites.

This server has stopping responsing 3 times over the last 3 months, despite having the generation of a kernel memory dump and write an entry in the event logs when an bsod occurs nothing is been logged. When viewing the server locally it is nonresponsive with a blank screen we have to power cycle the server to bring it back up.

After the last time we replaced all of the hardware with the expection of the hard disks, does anyone have any idea what could be causing this or what we should look at?

Thanks

Neil

Edit

One thing I've find in google is a blog posting saying that a fragmented hard disk could be the cause, as the disk is fragmented we will defrag it to see if that helps. Has anyone experienced this before?

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A few questions: 1) What indicator lights are on the server and what do they do while it's non-responsive? 2) Can you ping the server while it's unresponsive? 3) Can you RDP to it while its unresponsive? – Chris Oct 24 '10 at 16:32
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3 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

So is a BSOD actually occurring? I'd recommend un-ticking the "automatically restart" option; this gives you a chance to actually see the BSOD. If it is BSOD'ing, you'll be able to see the problem (e.g.: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL), hopefully the culprit (e.g.: XYZ.SYS) and the STOP code.

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When the server is accessed locally it is non responsive with a blank screen. The data centre staff have to physically turn it off to bring it back on line. – user58070 Oct 24 '10 at 12:27
Either outdated drivers, or broken hardware. That is it - nothing you can do. Had the same with bad network drivers on 2008 when it came out. An update fixed it. – TomTom Oct 24 '10 at 14:36
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Have you looked through the event viewer for possible hints?

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Yes the event log has no warning or error logs for the time of the crash it just stops having entries and then starts again with the unexcepted shutdown entry. – user58070 Oct 24 '10 at 9:07
What about entries prior to the event/situation. When it does occur, is/are the application(s) still responding? – user48838 Oct 24 '10 at 19:02
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up vote -1 down vote

If the server has a blank screen and is not responsive then it hasn't crashed, so stop looking for evidence in the event log because there won't be any. There also won't be a memory dump because again, it hasn't crashed, it's become unresponsive. You say that you replaced all of the hardware? I find that a little hard to believe, are you saying that you replaced the motherboard, CPU, memory, hard drives, etc., etc?

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It was a chasis swap so only the hard disks are the same. – user58070 Oct 24 '10 at 19:49
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