network troubleshooting question

Hi everyone,

I'm having an issue with 6 users that are all on the same floor and therefore same switch.

they are all complaining that when the log on some at 7:15 am and some at 8:30 am that outlook is very slow and hangs... one users even has outlook freeze when trying to open new emails. but after about 30mins it all levels out.

I've checked and all our backups are completed in plenty of time.

The Av software on the server runs at 4:00am

the only thing I noticed was AVG on the cleints runs at 8:00am by default so I changed it to noon.

I do not think it is hardware because it does resolve it's self in 30 mins

this does happen every day.

the environment is Windows with a mix of 2000 and 2003 servers. There is one Dc that is 2000(has all the Fsmo roles) and one that is 2003 (exchange)

any ideas??

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Comments

ally_uk

Check the exchange servers hdd space it could be getting filled up with junk mail
do you have spam filters?

Is all network functionality slow or is it just Outlook? if it's other activity and all users are becoming effected then it could possibly be the switch.

Smallguy

ally_uk wrote:

Check the exchange servers hdd space it could be getting filled up with junk mail
do you have spam filters?

Is all network functionality slow or is it just Outlook? if it's other activity and all users are becoming effected then it could possibly be the switch.

The Exchange server is only a fewm onths old and has loads of space on it.

we have a spam filter (Gfi mail essentials 12) but it updates periodically and should effect all users just not the 6 on that floor if it was being a resource hog.

the users only really use outlook....but do say everything seems a little slow (usually to them everytihng is outlook). It is isolated to just that floor and they are all on the same switch.

Sie

I would have said check the routing tables etc on the switch but that wouldnt explain why it only happens for the first 30 mins....

If that user logs into another machine located on another floor is it the same? (If this is possible i dont know the company structure)

Smallguy

Sie wrote:

I would have said check the routing tables etc on the switch but that wouldnt explain why it only happens for the first 30 mins....

If that user logs into another machine located on another floor is it the same? (If this is possible i dont know the company structure)

I could ask them ot try a different machine in the morning eventhough we do have deicated macihnes it is possialbe early in the mroing to borrow a machine temporarily

my only concern is that setting up outlook the first time might make them think it is slower when in actuality it is not. I might configure this and have them test it tomorrow though.

you might be on to osmething with the routing talbes the only problem is theses are unmanaged switches... is there anyway to view their info?? I'd haveo t check on the model since thi was set up well before I was involved.

Sie

With it being a unmanaged switch theres not that much you can check, it may have a inbuilt firewall, services etc that can be scheduled / setup so this 'could' be causing you problems.

Without knowing what equipment it is its hard to suggest what it does provide.

In this case I would personally ask user to log into other machine to test and maybe swap test switch.

We sometimes have problems with the slowing of connection when first accessintg outlook here which can be tracked down to large PST files or in one case a OST file located on a failing drive.

If outlook is all they use like you say then im guessing the use of PST files is quite possible?

dan_9141

I had the same problem after I upgraded to IE 7. The first few messages I would open each day would take a while to appear, after that everything worked fine. I have now upgraded to Office 2007 and no longer have the problem but if you google it there seems to be a number of people having the same problem. Some say to reinstall IE 7 or in outlook open the security tab and then "ok" and it corrects the issue.

blargoe

There could be a number of things going on, which have already been mentioned. Large PST on a network drive, Exchange running in cache mode updating the ost file on a slow drive, maybe a problem with the switch and/or cabling, maybe the GC is overloaded at that time, maybe there is a problem with the exchange database these users' mailboxes are located in, could be anything.

One thing you could do is to pick a computer that always exhibits this behavior during this time of the day take the machine, log on with your user profile and exchange profile and see if you have the problem.