Networking problems galore

Hi, I started here as a general computer helper/teacher/etc but when our main networking guy left, guess who got to fill his shoes. Anyways the network is in horrible shape at the moment. I'll describe the setup and a few of the problems and would love to hear some comments and suggestions.

The network has a number of different operating systems on it, primarily win2k, winxp pro, and win98. There is a windows2k server. All of the machines are setup to log on to a domain.
The machine names act very funny. Some machines cannot see all of the others (same subnet) and some of the ones which can cannot access them. I get a variety of errors from 'target account missing' or 'duplicate name exists' (im sure it does not) to a few others. Before users can print they have to manually authenticate with the actual machine by trying to access it through network neighborhood and if the name fails by using \\1.2.3.4 with the computers IP. They have to use an account on the actual machine with the printer attached even though they have logged on to the network.
I'm very confused and would appreciate any help you guys could give me.

1. RE: Networking problems galore
lbyard Jun-18-02 03:27 PM
In response to message 0

Frankly, I think you may have to go to school or otherwise take a crash course in networking. You need to learn how to administer the server. At the least, someone should have given you some on-the-job training before departing. Suggest calling that guy who left. Larry

2. RE: Networking problems galore
Twinhead Jun-18-02 04:08 PM
In response to message 0

This is a mess!
I am an Assistant Network Engeneer at my work here in Holland.
First some questions and default answers:
1 Do you use DHCP? (Must be)
Computers obtain an IP from a special server, or a process in your Win2K Server
2 Do you installed File and Printer sharing (A Network Service) on ALL the computers that have to share a printer or something? (Should be)
ONLY computers who has installed this networkservice could be "seen" by other computers on your Network, then a networkpprinter can be assighned.
3 Is your network cabeling certified? (I'd better be!)
If not, do a VERY GOOD scan if all cables are connected properly, and in case of home made cables, check the Color coding! Data follows.
4 How are the HUBs and Switches conneted to each other? (Crosscable between Hub/Hub, Switch/Hub, Switch/Switch and Straight cable between Hub/PC, and Switch/PC)
NEVER CONNECT A PAIR OF HUBS/SWITCHES WITH MORE THEN ONE CROSSCABLE TO EACH OTHER!!
5 Do printers on your network has an Internal or external Network connection or are they shared by some computers who have them on the Parrallel?
These has to be Shared AND that type of printer should be installed on each other PC as a Networkprinter!
CableData:
See the connector with contacts directed away, the cable inlet to you and the clip down:
1 is left,8 is right
568-B
(Standard European Codec)
1 Orange/White
2 Orange
3 Green/White
4 Blue
5 Blue/white
6 Green
7 Brown/White
8 Brown
568-A
(Standard American codec, and makes a Cross with the -B type on the other end!)
1 Green/White
2 Green
3 Orange/White
4 Blue
5 Blue/White
6 Orange
7 Brown/White
8 Brown
Victor.

3. RE: Networking problems galore
itsdoh Jun-18-02 11:59 PM
In response to message 2

Larry, I wish I could contact the guy, however even if I could, he's the one who left everything like this in the first place. The wiring was inplace when we moved in and was professionally installed. IPs are static. Our network is small, only about a dozen computers at the most (if we have all the laptops on it). Each computer is wired directly to a 16 port hub which plugs into our cisco router and onto the net from there. None of the printers are directly connected to the network, they are each shared from a workstation. All the computers have file and print sharing and tcp/ip installed. The server also has a network monitoring service installed but it didn't work before that was in place either.
I should add that the behavior is quite odd from computer to computer. For example:
Computer A can see Computer B on the network
Computer B cannot see computer A
Both can see computer C
Computer A can access the shared resources of C
Computer B indicated a 'duplicate name' error when trying to access C

This is a small sample of what I have to deal with every day. I'm reading all the literature I can, just isn't helping yet.

4. RE: Networking problems galore
lbyard Jun-19-02 03:48 PM
In response to message 3

Suggest starting with these: http://duxcw.com/faq/network/names.htm and http://duxcw.com/faq/network/brreq.htm. And make the PC configurations consistent... get one right and copy it. Larry