Strange problems with IP binding

[keith73]

greetings.

I just got a dedicated server with server cove and have had nothing but problems.

earlier today the server was unreachable. couldn't ping it so I contacted the host. they investigated and discoverd that the IP on the server was not set to the IP that was assigned to it. Of course they assumed I changed it, but I haven't. I didn't even know how to change that, they told me that running nsconfig could change that.
So they reset it and everything was fine.
Now, it's about 12 hours later and the server again is unreachable, I contacted them again, it was the same problem, they reset it and it's fine now. Again they keep asking me if I've done anything or if I'm running any scripts. I again assured them that I've done nothing to change the IP.

Here's what I have done, I've started bothe Apache and mysql, installed pine/pico and that's it. I'm the only one with access, I've changed the root password several times to make sure that the problem isn't that someone else got in. I've only had the server a few days.

Does anyone know what could be causing this problem? could some rogue process that I never started be causing this?

thanks

[chrism01]

you could try installing tripwire and get it to monitor the relevant network files eg /etc/hosts, and so on.
Alternatively, set a cron script to check the ip via ifconfig (say every 10 mins) and mail you when it changes, then check the same time section of /var/log/messages.