Question : Problem: Switches are dropping traffic

I have a set of 3 3com Super Stack switchs model 3870. They are configured as a single stack.   my issue is that they seem to dropping traffic all of a sudden. we have been having an issue with our websites losing connections to the sql server. If a ping anything on our network with the -t option it will be fine for a while and all of a sudden will drop a bunch of packets, and then it is fine for a while.


Does anyone have any ideas on how I could diagnos this problem? I updated the switches to the latest firmware. it hasn't made any difference.

I am wondering if one of my switches might be going bad? if so how do I figure out which one?

thanks

Answer : Problem: Switches are dropping traffic

Yes, I would definitely check for a loop first as well.  Secondly if the switches offer any type of console or web access, check to see if there is one switch that may be receiving a lot of CRC errors.  Typically this means either a device plugged into the switch is bad or the switch or switch port itself is bad.