Compaq ProLiant 1000 LAN Driver Statistics for Novell Drivers - Page 13

ECG043/1097 INTEGRATION NOTE (cont.) 1...3 LAN DRIVER TOKEN RING STATISTICS This section contains a list of statistics reported for the Compaq Token Ring controllers. These following errors are called network soft errors: • Line Errors • Burst Errors • Lost Frame Errors • Frame Copied Errors • Token Errors They do not affect the operation of the network but they can affect performance if they become excessive. They should be considered as a group. If any of these counters is incrementing as a large percentage of the frames received or transmitted, it usually indicates a problem with the wiring or the board. During normal operation these numbers will occasionally increment. This does not necessarily indicate a problem. More information about each error can be found below. Line Errors This item will increment each time a station detects a line error. Each station either repeats or copies a frame and checks the frame for validation. If the data in the frame is corrupted, each station that detects the corrupted frame will increment its own line error count. If you see an excessive number of line errors, check for the following: Failing cable: Packet data traveling through shorted or damaged cabling may become corrupt before reaching the destination station. This will cause line errors. Segment not grounded properly: Improper grounding of a segment may allow ground-induced noise to corrupt data flow, which will cause line errors. Noisy cable: Interference or noise produced by motors or other devices can distort the signals and cause CRC/Alignment errors, which will increment the line error count. If you cannot find the problem after checking the above conditions, use a network analyzer to isolate the station that is corrupting the frame. The analyzer should indicate which station is causing the problem, and let you know if the NIC should be replaced. Burst Errors This item increments every time the adapter detects the absence of clock transitions. Burst errors occur in Token Ring networks when the signal is momentarily disrupted. Each time a station asserts itself into the ring or de-asserts itself from the ring, a burst error may occur. If you detect that one station has an abnormally high burst error count compared to other stations, you may need to replace the NIC. For example, if most stations average 2 burst errors per day, and one station shows 27, that station may have a faulty NIC. The station that is directly downstream of the device causing the problem usually detects the burst error. Use the Upstream Address of the station detecting Burst Errors to determine the faulty NIC. If excessive burst errors continue to occur on the ring, you may need to replace the Multi-Access Unit (MAU) or hub. Use a network analyzer to isolate the problem area.