Probable network issue despite healthy ping stat?

Question

We faced a problem with a windows network where we suspect it to be a network issue although the ping works fine.

System Overview: The Windows network is accessed from multiple sites connected through a 2MBps P2P leased line.

Issue Details:

1. The issue is happening only at a particular site.
2. The windows network shares are intermittently accessible from the site, mostly throwing an error message that the location is not accessible. This also happens when shares are accessed by their full address (including IP).
3. Trying to copy files > 50 MB from a network share almost invariably fails.
4. It takes a very long time to login to our web application hosted over the intranet. This also fails intermittently (Timeout/Too long to respond).

Analysis So Far:

1. There is zero packet drop for extended periods of ping -t
2. There is no appreciable latency while testing ping with larger packet sizes (10KB)
3. The issue is not specific to a PC setting, as laptops which are working fine from other locations are not working when connected to this site.
4. The issue is not due to any firewall rules, as the firewall has been disabled to test this.
5. We have even tested this issue by directly connecting the media converter directly to the PC at both ends of the network, to rule out any router /switch issue. Still no luck.

Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated as we are having a tough time nailing this down.

Answer 1

Some of this sounds bad, but I'll try and give you an answer:

System Overview: The Windows network is accessed from multiple sites connected through a 2MBps P2P leased line.

I hope you have a VPN or something else to connect that server to those sites. If you don't you could be WIDE open to attacks from outside.

The windows network shares are intermittently accessible from the site, mostly throwing an error message that the location is not accessible. This also happens when shares are accessed by their full address (including IP).

This could indicate that the file sharing server is having issues. It could be that the hard drive that has the shared locations is throwing errors or has performance/hardware issues that can't handle everyone's requests.

Trying to copy files > 50 MB from a network share almost invariably fails.

There could be a quota set on the shares you're trying to access which is set to 50MB, or again performance/hardware issues. Ask your IT department to see if there's a quota set and ask them to raise or remove it if there is. If you're not using Windows shares then you'll need to check and see if there's a limit set in the server settings. If it's always failing at anything above 50M, then there's a limit on the server somewhere. If it can succeed, then problem probably lies elsewhere.

It takes a very long time to login to our web application hosted over the intranet. This also fails intermittently (Timeout/Too long to respond).

What kind of application are you trying to run? Does it run off of the shares or is it web based, (php, java, .net)? How exactly do you get to this web app? This will help with the answer above too.

The issue is not specific to a PC setting, as laptops which are working fine from other locations are not working when connected to this site. We have even tested this issue by directly connecting the media converter directly to the PC at both ends of the network, to rule out any router /switch issue. Still no luck.

These point to an issue with the server itself. As for the second one here, what do you mean by "media converter"? Also, how exactly did you connect the two systems? Was it with a crossover cable or just one of the regular LAN cables?

A lot of this is guessing as some the information you provided is a off.

Also, I don't have 50 rep yet, so I can't post comments.