Adding a second nic

Our network is running at 100mbs. Our servers come with 2 1000mbs nics.
One nic is plugged into the main network and all is working fine (100mbs).
The second nic is not being used.

The servers affected are Exchange 2003, 2 Domain Controllers (win2003), and
a few member servers (2003). Our network addressing is 10.0.1.0

I need to increase the bandwidth for backups between the servers.

Until we can purchase a larger switch ($1500), I have purchased a smaller
switch just for a second network between the servers.

Questions
If I configure the second nics...
Should I use the same addressing scheme and subnet?
Will I need to do anything with WINS, DNS, DHCP?
Anything else (comments/suggestions)?
Should I link the second network to the main network or leave it
seperate?

I tried configuring the second nics with the same addressing scheme and
subnet but I started having communication issues on the main server. I
didn't restart the servers but would that cause issues?

1. You can enable second NIC and make the server as router to connect to two subnets.
2. It is not recommended to run DC and DNS on a multihomed computer. So, it is better to setup a member server as RRAS server.

Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
"Corey Arndt" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:Oz5Bo9P$(E-Mail Removed)...
Our network is running at 100mbs. Our servers come with 2 1000mbs nics.
One nic is plugged into the main network and all is working fine (100mbs).
The second nic is not being used.

The servers affected are Exchange 2003, 2 Domain Controllers (win2003), and
a few member servers (2003). Our network addressing is 10.0.1.0

I need to increase the bandwidth for backups between the servers.

Until we can purchase a larger switch ($1500), I have purchased a smaller
switch just for a second network between the servers.

Questions
If I configure the second nics...
Should I use the same addressing scheme and subnet?
Will I need to do anything with WINS, DNS, DHCP?
Anything else (comments/suggestions)?
Should I link the second network to the main network or leave it
seperate?

I tried configuring the second nics with the same addressing scheme and
subnet but I started having communication issues on the main server. I
didn't restart the servers but would that cause issues?