OK, I
now have a definitive explanation. I just talked to Sprint, who is our backbone
provider, and they said they have started "null routing" open mail relays due to
the explosively growing SPAM problem. I gave them 5 IP's that I was getting the
10054 error on, and they said that every one of those addresses are "null
routed". This means that packets can find their way to my server, but wont get
routed back. This explains the send error, but it still doesn't take care of the
problem of SMTP not responding while my server is trying to connect to it. I
guess I will have to get back on the phone with support and try to find a fix
for this, now that I know that the problem isn't my NIC.
Thanks
again for the responses!
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Mike VandeBerg
Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2003 11:47 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] SMTP Timeouts and send error 10054Yes I may try a different NIC. I have an integrated 3com NIC on a Dell Optiplex GX240. But the thing that points me away from the nic is that I cant even ping the IP in question - right after the error occurs, or even later, so the server is not there, its not just a problem communicating. I ping the addresses in question from my workstation and not the server, so its not just the mail servers nic that cant communicate to the IP in question. It just seems to me that its the behavior of SMTP when its trying to connect to a server that's not there. Another thing is that I have never seen the 10054's at all if its a legitimate server. I have also done searches through the log to see if any of the 10054 IP's ever do get a good connection, and they don't. Another thing - Trace routes on the IPs in question often show a net block from Japan, France, brazil, etc. This is another thing that leads me to believe that there isn't anything wrong with the nic. Maybe someone can answer this question - If, under normal conditions, an Imail server tries to connect to a server that's not there, what is it supposed to do, what should I see in the logs?Thanks again for the response-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Patrick Childers
Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2003 11:20 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] SMTP Timeouts and send error 10054Mike,You may want to check your patch cable(s), the port(s) on your hub/switch/patch panel/router etc.. Also, it could possibly be a flaky nic. You may want to try a new card. Imail seems to like 3com 905's. FYI, quite a few people on this list seem to have had problems with "server" class 3com nics on Imail boxes.Hope this helps!~PatrickThanks for the reply Jamie,I saw that KB article, but this is an NT4 box, and there are no power or standby options. Is there anyone who had a similar problem and found a resolution with NT?-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Jamie Orth
Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2003 10:30 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] SMTP Timeouts and send error 10054
Answer/Solution: Go to the NIC properties and hit the Configure button. Then click the Power Management button. Make sure that both, Allow this device to bring the computer out of standby, and, Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power, are NOT checked.
Document #: Revision Date: IM-20020812-DM01 08/12/02 this is from ipswitch - I had the same issue with my server and this corrected the problemJamie Orth, MCSE
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Network Manager / ISA
Citrus and Chemical Bank
http://www.candcbank.com_________________________________________________________________
The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer.
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Mike VandeBerg
Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2003 10:37 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [IMail Forum] SMTP Timeouts and send error 10054I am having a problem with my SMTP service going down and back up again several times per day. Thankfully it only goes down for a few seconds and then goes back up just fine, but sometimes it will go down for a few minutes. This occurs when I get the following entry in my SMTP log. We are an ISP that's been around a while, and we receive approx 30,000 messages/smtp connections per day. I realize that most of those connections are from spammers with hosed up machines and DNS properties, but my log is riddled with entries similar to this one: (IP and port have been replaced with x's because they are random).02-19-2003 20:37:00 SMTPD (0D6802C0) [0.0.0.0] connect xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx port xxxx
02-19-2003 20:37:00 SMTPD (0D6802C0) send error 10054This error will show several different IP addresses so there's no real pattern to it. Some have shown up more that others and I have entered several IP's that have caused this error in the SMTP blocked IP list, but there are too many of them to truly keep up on it. I know that this error is due to a connection initiated by a spammer or some other type of mail server that just doesn't work. Reverse lookups on the IP in question rarely come up with anything, and usually the IP's in question cant even be pinged. I don't really care that my logs are filled with errors like this, but the problem is that whenever my SMTP service goes down and back up for a few seconds, it is directly related to the time that the send error 10054 occurred.Is anyone else having this problem, and is there anything I cant do to keep the SMTP service from going down when this happens? This seems to be occurring more and more, and I am getting more and more calls from customers that think the mail server is down because they get a POP3 error whenever they try to log in.Thanks in advance for any help with this one.Mike VandeBerg
Systems Administrator
NTS Services Corp
309-353-5632 ext. 227
Mobile 309-241-8973
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
