Excessive Broadcast Error

I have been having some issues with the network I work with at my job. Basically, all my users have connectivity to the Internet and Intranet but some of my servers are having communication issues.

I've logged into one of our switches which is a HP ProCurve 2848. Our old CTO chose to use this switch for whatever reason. I personally would use a Cisco Catalyst 3000 Series Switch, which we might go with if this issue can't be resolved.

I have found Excessive Broadcasts detected on 4 of my ports. All 4 of these ports house my important servers. In the past this issue was resolved with a firmware upgrade of the switch. But I'm running the most current firmware.

Can this be an indication of a future hardware failure of the switch? I have received about 10 to 12 instances throughout a 3 day period. But during this time, workflow has been drastically affected.

Any thoughts or ideas?

Thanks,

ZiPPy

I would start with the NIC on those servers.

I have been having some issues with the network I work with at my job. Basically, all my users have connectivity to the Internet and Intranet but some of my servers are having communication issues.

I've logged into one of our switches which is a HP ProCurve 2848. Our old CTO chose to use this switch for whatever reason. I personally would use a Cisco Catalyst 3000 Series Switch, which we might go with if this issue can't be resolved.

I have found Excessive Broadcasts detected on 4 of my ports. All 4 of these ports house my important servers. In the past this issue was resolved with a firmware upgrade of the switch. But I'm running the most current firmware.

Can this be an indication of a future hardware failure of the switch? I have received about 10 to 12 instances throughout a 3 day period. But during this time, workflow has been drastically affected.

Any thoughts or ideas?

Thanks,

ZiPPy

I can firmly say the issue does not reside with the NICs.

I have currently upgraded the firmware from version I.08.71 to the lastest firmware version I.10.43

I logged back into the switch via Telnet and poked around and found that currently we do not have STP, RSTP, or MSTP enabled. I got on the phone with HP and informed them of my settings and they reported the issue is caused by not having STP or RSTP enabled. That is what is causing the Excessive Broadcasts. But STP just ensures a loop free topology for the LAN. So, I don't think that is the issue here.

With the latest upgrade, I have not seen any logs on the switch. I have changed the Fault Detection settings to log network problems at high sensitivity from the previous medium sensitivity setting.

I really hate just shrugging off an issue whether its fixed or not.

ZiPPy

I haven't played with HP switches but I would check and make sure none of your servers have a virus causing this problem. Also if this problem happens again I would put a sniffer on the switch and see what is going on.

NIC cards are good and there are no virus's on the servers. I really feel its deeper than that, it has to be.

ZiPPy

Can your try putting a sniffer on the switch and do some logging?