By default, all installations of Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and higher enable the Windows Firewall to block virtually all TCP network ports to incoming connections. As a result, any Oracle products that listen for incoming connections on a TCP port will not receive any of those connection requests, and the clients making those connections will report errors.
Depending upon which Oracle products you install and how they are used, you may need to perform additional Windows post-installation configuration tasks so that the Firewall products are functional on Windows Server 2003.
See Also:
Oracle Real Application Clusters Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows x64 (64-Bit) for more information about Oracle RAC executables requiring Windows Firewall exceptions