director saab, maybe i was not clear earlier. when the box reboots, the berserk NIC is "eth0" which is connected directly to a static-IP wala port leading to the univ IP-server but the indicator lamp for "eth1" which is connected to a switch in the LAN (wireless->router->switch->terminal) shows error although apparently there is no problem with the "eth1" . The FC3 server as such connects to two internet connections, one static (eht0) and another dynamic(eth1) and it is the eth0 that is behaving crazy. Why the indicator for a virtually OK -wala shows error and how, only bhole baba knows. thx again keep rolling...