Re: 2000 server is losing data files



"Malke" wrote:

catsystems wrote:

Help....!!!

I don't know if this belongs here but I could not find a more relevent
area to post it

Sorry this is a bit of a long one but this is driving us nuts...!!!
and I hope it will help anybody else experiencing the same problem or
at least forewarn them if anybody has an answer.

We have a client that has both a 2000 & a 2003 server that are not on
the same network but both for some strange reason and at random times
of the year perhaps 3 or 4 just lose a whole section of their data
files. eg they have a folder called \\admin of which is subfolders
a,b,c,d, etc into which is created the name of their client into which
they store the relevant data for that client all in alpahbetical
order. The data typically comprises *.docs, *.xls, *.pdf etc.

Layout:-

e:\Admin
\A
\aardvark
\ armstrong
\ etc......
\B
\barclay
\bradley
\etc.......
\C
\etc.....

For some totally unknown reason that we can not understand, a whole
chunk of this Admin folder should vanish. It has happened today where
they lost everything from Folders A to D and had to restore from tape.
When this occurs it is random as to how many folders it will zap.
Sometimes 2 sometimes as many as 12 however
the Admin folder always stays put. We have catagorically ruled out
users deleting them, Virus and any spyware influence. The only common
denominator is that most of the documents are stored with the _
(underscore) eg. fred_jones.doc or bill_smith holidays.xls etc.

We manage a large number of servers and have never come across
anything like this and MS can offer us no help. I have only come
across one other article similar to this where the conditions were
somewhat similar to that described above. He managed to recreate the
problem but had no resolution for it...

I would be most gratefull for any ideas....

Thanks in advance

That's a real puzzler. I don't suppose the data is used by any one
particular program that could be corrupting it? The reason I ask is I
have a client using a niche legal database and all their client files
on the server under "D" and "E" were completely inaccessible (not
gone). Upgrading the database solved that.

I can't imagine that the underscore naming could affect this. After all,
in the the non-Windows world that naming convention is used all the
time and bits of data don't disappear from servers.

When you say you've ruled out users deleting them, does that mean the
servers are in a locked room and only a few people have the key?

Are both servers on separate and high-quality UPS's? Although it seems
to me so unlikely that only that range of folders would disappear if
electrical problems were causing data corruption.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Hi Malke

Many thanks for the reply.... No the nature of the users is such that I
categorically say they would not have accidentally or intentionionaly deleted
these files.

Since I posted this the only other indicator I have had is that just prior
to the files vanishing again a number of users reported that they had lost
their network connections and when they logged back in the folders had
vanished. When we look at the server there is no evidence of the server
having shut down or losing its network connection

A real head scratcher....... thanks

.

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