Ive been noticing on my network consisting of Novell and NT/2000 that workstations are transmitting NCP packets constantly even if there’s no activity from either side. Is this common because by analyzing these packets, most of the activity almost 60% are consist of NCP packets. I’m not sure if this is common but if someone can give me some insight on this, I appreciate it. Thanks

Hi, Any processed requests use NCP packets. RIPs, SAPs, TCP, UDP, et cetra, all are goverened through NCP. If a client is running an .exe from the server, has a database open, has Internet Explorer open, checks e-mail, or whatnot, this will generate *SOME* NCP packets even if the NetWare Server isn't the intended target recipient. High traffic can occur through Microsoft products based on various problems. Some clients create mass packet generation simply by manually mapping a drive. Some Microsoft programs cause high NCP traffic and can have a digital "Did So! / No Huh!" argument with the server even while idle. Some NDS objects can also creat high NCP packet simply by their existance. So what do you do? It's always a good idea to update with the most recent (best) OS specific NetWare client available. Then, you can apply the most recent MS hotfixes/updates. Then disable raw sockets and messenger on the machines, just as a general principle. Some, if not all, spyware, worms, and trojans will increase NCP just by their state of being. For this, they should die. Then what? After all this, if you're like a bulldog with an old sock, and just cant stop chewing on it, I suggest you might try this: http://support.novell.com/cgi-bin/search/searchtid.cgi?/10052216.htm It might be beneficial in tracing further NCP traffic problems to their source. I leave this as a last suggestion since the first are fundamental and should be done regardless. If you try to trace it first, you could just be wasting time as the fundamentals should have been done in the first place. Other tweaking can be involved, but this is where I would start. HTH, -J

Thanks for the info!