Ensuring Server Uptime

Windows Server 2003 Black Screen Crashes

[jgar]

Our Dell Power Edge server (6 months old), running Windows 2003 has been crashing recently. Crashes seem random, causing downtime and loss of pages in Google.

Anyone had to confront this already?

What approach should we take to fix the problem?
What is the best way to avoid downtime in future?

Thanks for sharing any experiences ...

(all windows updates installed, server is in a chilled environment)

[raptorix]

I would advise you to check your event logs, if you don't see anything weird, you better call dell for advise. I thought Dell had a software tool to check system integrity.

[jgar]

Yes, Dell emailed me a program, which ran on the server and sent a report back. Dell says it's clearly a memory problem, and will be sending a replacement tomorrow - Hope this works.

How about clustering - is that a good way to avoid this in future? Would we need to buy all Windows software again for a 2nd machine?

[duckhunter]

Ever since we went to a cluster those kind of problems (hardware) ceased to be an issue. We run 3 boxes behind a load balancer and I sleep well now.

[jgar]

Thanks duckhunter - I would love to be able to sleep soundly just like you do.

We already spent a fortune on licences for one box - do we need to multiply that by three?

[duckhunter]

Yes you do but if you're a business with high daily sales, eliminating 1 day of downtime will more than pay for it.

There are hosting providers that offer this setup at affordable prices. Is it necessary to run your own box?