The following are checklists of items to note and information to gather when you have a problem with your directory.
Are directory clients timing out, or are their connections being refused by the server?
Are all network components (routers, hubs, switches, cables) between the clients and the servers functional?
Is the directory server machine running? If not, has the hardware failed?
Are all hardware components on the directory server machine functioning properly? Have any operating system logs recorded hardware failures?
Is the directory server process running? If so, is it consuming any CPU time? Is it consuming too much CPU time? Is it causing any disk activity?
If the directory server process is not running, did it fail when processing a particular client request? Does it fail each time it receives such a request? Repeated failures of the same type of request might represent a denial-of-service attack, or it might simply be a bug.
Are specific types of directory operations performing poorly, or is the overall performance of the server poor?
Are appropriate attribute indexes being maintained on the directory server?
Is the directory server process too large? If so, does it become too large immediately on startup or gradually over time?
Are the cache sizes of the directory (if any) configured appropriately (neither too small nor too large)?
Are other processes running on the directory server machine causing the poor performance?
Is the directory under a particularly heavy load? Is this load expected? If it is excessive, is one particular client or application accounting for most of the load?
Is the operating system correctly tuned, and are all appropriate patches installed? The dsktune utility provided with Netscape Directory Server can help you answer these questions.
Is data missing or incorrect?
Does the data appear to be corrupted in a catastrophic manner? Such damage indicates a serious hardware or software problem.
Is the data damaged in a specific way? For example, have certain entries been erroneously deleted? Can the source of the erroneous modifications be determined by examination of directory server logs?
Are there telltale signs of a break-in, such as connections from an unexpected location or unexpected modifications to directory entries?
Do directory logs show unexpected client activity?
Is the directory experiencing a denial-of-service attack? (Such an attack usually overwhelms available server resources.) If so, is the source of the attack known?