My company has recently been deserted by the tech folks managing our
systems, including the Oracle 8i db, which is the back-end to our
website. Here's our platform:

Compaq Proliant 3000
OS:NT 4.0, OP 6
Cold Fusion Server 4.0
Oracle 8i - ver. 8.1.5

Our website was running flawlessly until the following changes were
made -

Upgraded to service pack 6
Installed NIMDA virus patch (from Microsoft)
Updated Compaq controllers and bios (recommended by Compaq)

After all was installed, we now experience the following symptoms from
Oracle:

- The database, which normally starts up almost instantly, is taking
approx 8 minutes to get going
- After up and running without issue for approx 5-10 minutes, the db
shuts down with the following error message: ORA-12571:TNS:PACKET
WRITER FAILURE. When the db is up, there is no connectivity problem
with cold fusion server, the site runs as it were normal.

I am in the unfortunate position of having to manage this issue with
no experience, so any help or suggestions would be EXTREMELY
appreciated.

Thanks...JW