Server 2016 Stops Responding to Remote Desktop Periodically

Question

I have had an issue for a while with a Windows 2016 Server that I use for file and media storage. This is a physical machine but it has no IO devices so I remote into it using Remote Desktop. This works fine for a while, couple of weeks generally. Then all of a sudden the server stops responding to most, but not all, network requests. The server is running in a workgroup and not on a domain.

• Remote Desktop fails with access denied even though this is not a permissions issue
• File shares are still accessible
• A site running on the server stops responding to requests
• Restart-Computer fails with a message about the login session not existing
• psshutdown fails with a "The device is not ready.` message
• ping works fine

The server is up to date with all updates.

The only workaround is for me to physically reboot the server and then everything is fine again for a couple of weeks. The switch the server is on has other devices connected and appears fine but I do notice the server becoming unresponsive after a network outage, although not right away.

Thoughts on what I can check next to figure out why this machine suddenly stops responding to most requests.

Answer 1

Hello,

When the issue occurs, it's important to check your performance metrics. At the same time, review your event log to determine if there are any errors or warnings.

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