Cluster Server does not detect network problems in Windows NT 4.0 Enterprise Edition (257925)

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0

This article was previously published under Q257925

SYMPTOMS

Cluster Server in Windows NT Server 4.0, Enterprise Edition, does not detect network problems. Disconnecting the network cable from the active node does not cause an IP address or group to failover. Also, simulated network adapter failures may not cause an IP address to stop working, or cause Cluster Server to declare that an adapter is down.

CAUSE

The Cluster service verifies that the IP address is online by checking the network stack to make sure that it is functioning. A network problem does not invalidate the IP addresses that are registered on that adapter. This causes the IP address to stay online even though the route is down.

This functionality is included in Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server.

STATUS

This behavior is by design for Windows NT Server 4.0, Enterprise Edition.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about related topics, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

242600 Network failure detection and recovery in a two-node Windows Server 2000 cluster

254101 Network adapter teaming and server clustering

239924 How to disable Media Sense for TCP/IP in Windows

254651 Cluster network role changes automatically

176320 Impact of network adapter failure in a cluster

Modification Type:	Major	Last Reviewed:	7/13/2004
Keywords:	kbHardware kbnetwork kbprb KB257925