Cant connect to mapped network drive issues on network

[JCROCCO]

We have a NAS device and 10 computers, sometimes 1 or 2 laptops all on a P2P network that all have the NAS as a mapped network drive.

Just recently we have been having problems with some of the computers not being able to connect to the NAS device. Usually it is only 1 computer at a time. We have never had this problem before.

I dont know if it something in XP with a max user connection. I installed a patch on ALL computers to change the max limit to 50, but it didnt help.

I dont know if it is the NAS device. It is a snap server, but it doesnt run on Windows, has its own software.

I dont know if it could be the DHCP server. The DHCP server is part of the VOIP network and I have no control or access to it.

Anyone have ideas? Would a true Server help the situation at all? How can I determine what could be the problem? Thanks for any help on this issue.

 

[sonoma1993]

What kind of errors are you getting when some of the computers can't connect to the NAS?

 

[JCROCCO]

it says you cant connect because the computer has reached its maximum connections.

 

[JackMDS]

Win XP Pro allows only 10 concurrent connection.

Notice the word is Connections Not computers.

I.e., depending on the general configuration you can have 10 connections even with less than 10 computers/networked devices.

 

[JCROCCO]

But the NAS is not windows software. It has its own software that works with Windows, and other OS's.

Also, this just started within the past month, thought the amount of computers and the NAS device has not changed at all. So why this issue now?

 

[JackMDS]

It is a Network Connection.

 

[JCROCCO]

Yes, The NAS is connected to the network, but the NAS itself is not Windows.

What creates the network?

All 10 computers I have patched to allow 50 connections. XP SP2 limited connections to 10, ut we never had a problem until recently.

If all the computers show 50 connections, and the NAS is not windows software, then what controls how many connections are to the NAS?

The computers that cant connect to the NAS are able to connect to other computers, and to the internet, just not to the NAS.

 

[mcmilljb]

Check with NAS maker's website. Maybe it's limited to 10 connections, and you're waiting for a lost connection to timeout. Would help if we knew more about the NAS device itself.

After looking at their website, I would just look at its configuration to see if it was limited to just the number of users in your group (10 in this case). See if you can bump it up 1 or 2 more to avoid someone being locked out due to a connection that has not timed out. It seems like it's pretty flexible to adjust some settings.

 

[JCROCCO]

Sorry, I thought I mentioned it.

It is a snap server 4200 - 1 TB.

The problem is I am also having problems accessing the administrators pages. This, however has been a problem for a year or so, but the computers not connecting has been within the past month only.

For this reason, I cant see the settings, but like I said, it was workimg, i dont know what caused it to stop working.

The website is not very helpful, and I have requested tech support, but they stink at returning emails and calls, Plus its not free. I dont mind paying for it, as I am sure they can help me with the issue of not getting to the admin page, but the network thing may or may not be a problem they can fix.

 

[mcmilljb]

I missed the Snap Server part when I first read your post.

You have an older model (pre current owners). Adaptec claims to know something about it on their website, but I don't see any thing really. If you're going to pay for support, they should know what's causing the issue.

 

[JCROCCO]

Really? Wow, can you direct me the page where you say they know something about it, I have spent hours researching to no avail, thus I figured using this message board for help. As I stated, I dont mind paying for support, I just want to make sure the support I pay for will fix the issue. Anything helping me see this would be appreciated.

 

[mcmilljb]

You can visit the Adaptec.com. It will show up in the search, but it kept telling me nothing was there when I tried some of the links. It definitely was an Adaptec product when you purchased it.

Just tell Overland Storage you're not paying for support unless they can actually assist you with this product. They bought the Snap server product line from Adaptec last July. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snap_Server

 

[JCROCCO]

Ok Thanks. I will do that.

 

[Slowlearner]

OP you are right that the NAS should connect without issues. What confuses me is this patch that you talk about. XP Pro is limited to 10 connections, AFAIK thats it - there is now way that limit can be increased. But you are not trying to connect the other PCs to a pc running XP Pro - then why should you get an error message about exceeding max connections. Check your mapping carefully there is something not right here - I mean something really simple.

Its also good practice to assign fixed IP addresses to networked devices - network printers, NAS etc. - outside the DHCP range for easier network discovery and connectivity even in a P2P setup. This will prevent the sometimes found, sometimes not found problem.

 

[Jeff7181]

Sounds to me like between the NAS and all the other computers on the network you're hitting the 10 connection limit as was mentioned. Keep in mind, if all the computers are in the same workgroup, there's the potential for them to have a connection to each other for shared printers, folders, etc.

 

[JCROCCO]

Well, All computers and the NAS are indeed assigned static Ip addresses. The DHCP is for other misc connections.

The patch is a fix that changes the TCPIP.sys file (I think thats it) to change the limit from 10 to 50. I added this to all the computers to see if this would help. I found this after doing much research on the subject on the net. What bothers me is that no computer accesses any other computer on the network, so there are no reasons that one computer should have 10 computers accessing it. The NAS is not a computer and is not XP, but since I cant access it, I cant do much about it yet.

As I stated before, nothing really has changed in my network. I dont know what changed now, but I do feel that whatever it is, it is a simple fix once it is found.

The only thing that did change is I added a new computer about 1 - 2 months ago, BUT it replaced an existing computer, and ALL computers, including the one replaced, ran XP PRO. Maybe there is something I need to change on this one new computer that maybe is driving this issue. Prior to this new computer, I still had 10 computers and 1-2 laptops connected at the same time without issue.

Any ideas?

 

[Jeff7181]

There are a bunch of ideas here but you refuse to read them. Computer != connection. Just because you don't have a drive mapped to another computer doesn't mean there's no connection open.

 

[JCROCCO]

What do you mean there are a bunch of ideas but I refuse to read them?

What has been suggested that I failed to read about? What has changed that caused this to happen, and how can it be fixed. No real answers so far other than saying I should go through Adaptec, which I am fine with, but other than that, what am I refusing to do?

Yeah, they are connections, but they have been connections for two years with no issues, now what changed to make it an issue. No one can answer that other than saying they are connections. How does that help?

Dont get me wrong, I do appreciate any helpful advice, but for Jeff7181 making the phrase, "but I refuse to read them" is only antagonizing. Can you back it up with something that makes sense.

If I was connecting to a computer, I could understand the problem, but not the NAS. It doesnt make sense. It is not windows based, but can connect to windows networks and others. In fact, when it first came out, XP still allowed more than 10 connections, as I know it wasnt until afte SP2 that they limited the connections. I also have not updated the NAS OS, so how would it know to limit the connections? Maybe I wasnt 100% clear, but these are the points I was trying to make. To tell me, "its a connection" is not an answer, nor an idea, but rather a statement, and an annoying one to state the obvious. Those connections have all been in place for 2 years with no issues, and now its an issue. WHY?

Answer that, and I will gladly read your idea and look into it.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: JCROCCO
What do you mean there are a bunch of ideas but I refuse to read them?

What has been suggested that I failed to read about? What has changed that caused this to happen, and how can it be fixed. No real answers so far other than saying I should go through Adaptec, which I am fine with, but other than that, what am I refusing to do?

Yeah, they are connections, but they have been connections for two years with no issues, now what changed to make it an issue. No one can answer that other than saying they are connections. How does that help?

Dont get me wrong, I do appreciate any helpful advice, but for Jeff7181 making the phrase, "but I refuse to read them" is only antagonizing. Can you back it up with something that makes sense.

If I was connecting to a computer, I could understand the problem, but not the NAS. It doesnt make sense. It is not windows based, but can connect to windows networks and others. In fact, when it first came out, XP still allowed more than 10 connections, as I know it wasnt until afte SP2 that they limited the connections. I also have not updated the NAS OS, so how would it know to limit the connections? Maybe I wasnt 100% clear, but these are the points I was trying to make. To tell me, "its a connection" is not an answer, nor an idea, but rather a statement, and an annoying one to state the obvious. Those connections have all been in place for 2 years with no issues, and now its an issue. WHY?

Answer that, and I will gladly read your idea and look into it.

If I'm not mistaken, the TCP/IP "fix" you mention changes the number of connection attempts per second. NOT the total concurrent connections you may have on any one Windows XP Pro machine. If this could actually be modified you'd see a lot more "Windows XP Servers" out there.

That said, I think you should try modifying the auto disconnect setting so idle connections are terminated. I believe the command you want is...

net config server /autodisconnect:mm (where mm is the time in minutes you wish to disconnect an idle session after)

Default is 15 minutes I believe... you might try setting it to 5... or even 2 or 3 and see if that helps anything. I'd try this first on one PC and see if it alleviates the problem on that PC... if it does, repeat on others.


*EDIT* The other option, of course, is to verify that your NAS device for sure supports more than 10 concurrent users.

 

[JCROCCO]

Thank you. Now thats information I can use. I will try it.

 

[Jeff7181]

You seem savvy enough to realize this, but for those that aren't... setting the auto-disconnect too low can be counter productive. If you let the connection idle for a minute and it's terminated, then you use it again after 2 minutes it will take time to restore the connection... this has the potential to be annoying and create unnecessary network traffic (which isn't a concern for home users, but for business users it could be).