Hi,
In the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma, I am having a heck of a time with one of my customer's computer networks. I am hoping that someone here will be able to give me a little insight into a problem. If this post is completely off topic here, please let me know and I will be happy to follow your direction.
Please note that I am not a licensed electrician, but I did work as an apprentice about 25 years ago and still have my (slightly burnt) Channel Locks. Also - I am not seeking do-it-yourself electrician advice. I would have my customer's electrician do his job.
Here's the problem:
My customer has a server computer and ten workstation computers that login to that server to do the daily accounting chores. The power lines are still down outside and they are running on several portable generators (rated ~5000 watts each).
The server and computers start up fine, but they are having extreme difficulty logging in to the network (keywords: logon, login, logging in, log on, logging on ). Note that network cable runs from each computer, to a "switch". The Switch is a powered device where you plug in all the computers' network cables. A single cable then runs from the Switch to the server computer. The cable is the commonly available low voltage unshielded Cat5 variety.
We have found that if we completely shut down all the equipment, unplug it from the generators, then restart the equipment, some of the computers are able to login to the server. Each day different computers are able to make the connection. Today it took three hours of shutting down, then working up to get only five of the computers connected to the server.
My brother is a sign electrician and he suggested a couple ideas. He suggested that the different generators may be running at Hertz. In his experience, he has seen some generators that run at 58Hz and some even up to 65Hz (ie. not the normal 60Hz we see off the utility wires). He also suggested that there may be "noise" on the Neutral line (ie. AC voltage seen between neutral and the ground wires).
I am a Microsoft Certified Partner (20 years experience) and I and Microsoft Support have determined that all the software is set up properly. Additionally, I have replaced the network switch, some network cables, and the network cards in the server and some computers. We still have this computer to server communication problem.
The only thing I can think of is that possibly might help the quality of signal on these low voltage network wires would be if the generators need grounded into a grounding rod. Also - I am aware that many electronic devices like our network cards have embedded quartz clocks that may be dependent on the utility power Hertz.
Any comments, suggestions or ideas will be greatly appreciated. I will also post this message to another computer hardware technical forum and will reply back with any info I may receive from there for your use.
Regards,
Brcobrem
In the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma, I am having a heck of a time with one of my customer's computer networks. I am hoping that someone here will be able to give me a little insight into a problem. If this post is completely off topic here, please let me know and I will be happy to follow your direction.
Please note that I am not a licensed electrician, but I did work as an apprentice about 25 years ago and still have my (slightly burnt) Channel Locks. Also - I am not seeking do-it-yourself electrician advice. I would have my customer's electrician do his job.
Here's the problem:
My customer has a server computer and ten workstation computers that login to that server to do the daily accounting chores. The power lines are still down outside and they are running on several portable generators (rated ~5000 watts each).
The server and computers start up fine, but they are having extreme difficulty logging in to the network (keywords: logon, login, logging in, log on, logging on ). Note that network cable runs from each computer, to a "switch". The Switch is a powered device where you plug in all the computers' network cables. A single cable then runs from the Switch to the server computer. The cable is the commonly available low voltage unshielded Cat5 variety.
We have found that if we completely shut down all the equipment, unplug it from the generators, then restart the equipment, some of the computers are able to login to the server. Each day different computers are able to make the connection. Today it took three hours of shutting down, then working up to get only five of the computers connected to the server.
My brother is a sign electrician and he suggested a couple ideas. He suggested that the different generators may be running at Hertz. In his experience, he has seen some generators that run at 58Hz and some even up to 65Hz (ie. not the normal 60Hz we see off the utility wires). He also suggested that there may be "noise" on the Neutral line (ie. AC voltage seen between neutral and the ground wires).
I am a Microsoft Certified Partner (20 years experience) and I and Microsoft Support have determined that all the software is set up properly. Additionally, I have replaced the network switch, some network cables, and the network cards in the server and some computers. We still have this computer to server communication problem.
The only thing I can think of is that possibly might help the quality of signal on these low voltage network wires would be if the generators need grounded into a grounding rod. Also - I am aware that many electronic devices like our network cards have embedded quartz clocks that may be dependent on the utility power Hertz.
Any comments, suggestions or ideas will be greatly appreciated. I will also post this message to another computer hardware technical forum and will reply back with any info I may receive from there for your use.
Regards,
Brcobrem