Cannot get a small multihomed win2003 server to work.

I have been trying to get a very small network assmebled in my home office.
I'm a web developer who needed a server environment to host test web sites
for 2003 deployment.

I was performing what I thought should be a very straightforward 2003 server
installation on a new box. The configuration is as follows:

One cable modem to comcast.net
One Linksys Router with 4 port switch. (WRT54G)
One LinkSys 4 port switch ( EZXS55W)
Server contains two Linksys network adapters. (new with latest drivers)
card 1 - external network connection (goes to router switch port)
card 2 - Internal network goes to Link Lynksys 4 port switch

Router IP 192.168.0.1
Internal static IP of 2003 Server 192.168.0.2
DHCP on router is turned off.
Router has latest driver upgrades.

Client Computer running XP Pro connects to Lynksys 4 port switch.

We have not had any success in getting the server to communicate between the
internal and external networks. The XP clients can see DNS and get assigned
IP addresses. They can never get to the outside network through the external
network card of the server. We have tried numerous IP address cofigurations.
The closest we can get is to not use the DHCP server on 2003 and rely on the
Linksys router for ip addresses.

We think it's a routing problem in the routing table but we are not familiar
with modifying the routing table. We were not using the routing and remote
access service. Not sure if we need it.

Any good references someone could point us to or have a secret setting we
are missing. There are obviously lots of settings to deal with here and
thought we have tweaked most. Even tried reinstalling the server numerous
times just to get everything back to a baseline.
--
Thanks, pkdenver

In your situation you do not need to modify the routing table directly. You
technically can accomplish your objective without the routing and remote
access service (RRAS) but configuration of your setup will be much easier
with it. Plus I recommend it because it's not only more visible, but it's
more secure and makes for far easier administration.

1) My first guess is that your XP clients were not pointing to the correct
default gateway. Their gateway must be the internal LAN interface of the
RRAS server 192.168.0.2. Check that.
2) That LAN interface itself *must not* have a default gateway. It should
be blank. Only it's external network connection should have a DG (default
gateway) assigned.
3) Where is the DNS server installed in this environment?
4) Is Active Directory installed in this environment?

--
Todd J Heron, MCSE
Windows Server 2003/2000/NT; CCA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This posting is provided "as is" with no warranties and confers no rights

On Sat, 18 Jun 2005 14:21:01 -0700, "pkdenver"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
>I have been trying to get a very small network assmebled in my home office.
>I'm a web developer who needed a server environment to host test web sites
>for 2003 deployment.
>
>I was performing what I thought should be a very straightforward 2003 server
>installation on a new box. The configuration is as follows:
>
>One cable modem to comcast.net
>One Linksys Router with 4 port switch. (WRT54G)
>One LinkSys 4 port switch ( EZXS55W)
>Server contains two Linksys network adapters. (new with latest drivers)
> card 1 - external network connection (goes to router switch port)
> card 2 - Internal network goes to Link Lynksys 4 port switch
>
>Router IP 192.168.0.1
>Internal static IP of 2003 Server 192.168.0.2
>DHCP on router is turned off.
>Router has latest driver upgrades.
>
>Client Computer running XP Pro connects to Lynksys 4 port switch.
>
>We have not had any success in getting the server to communicate between the
>internal and external networks. The XP clients can see DNS and get assigned
>IP addresses. They can never get to the outside network through the external
>network card of the server. We have tried numerous IP address cofigurations.
> The closest we can get is to not use the DHCP server on 2003 and rely on the
>Linksys router for ip addresses.
>
>We think it's a routing problem in the routing table but we are not familiar
>with modifying the routing table. We were not using the routing and remote
>access service. Not sure if we need it.
>
>Any good references someone could point us to or have a secret setting we
>are missing. There are obviously lots of settings to deal with here and
>thought we have tweaked most. Even tried reinstalling the server numerous
>times just to get everything back to a baseline.

Get the second card out of the server. Plug the server directly into
the Linksys cable router. Plug the 4 port switch into the cable
router. plug each clinet into either the switch or oruter, as space
allows. Install DNS on the server and set your ISP's DNS as a
forwarder. Disable DHCP on the cable router. Enable DHCP on the
server. Serve IP addresses form DHCP with the router address as the
default gateway and *only* the server's IP for DNS. Enjoy your
connectivity.

This works with either a workgroup or domain setup.

Jeff

The DNS server and active directory are installed on the same Windows 2003
server.

Will the Linksys router conflict with the RRAS routing? There's obviously
no way to turn off routing on the Linksys.. I could just get an access point
and use it to connect to the WAN if this makes things easier.

I will check the other settings on the XP clients and server as you mentioned


--
Thanks, pkdenver, MCP, Microsoft Partner



"Todd J Heron" wrote:

> In your situation you do not need to modify the routing table directly. You
> technically can accomplish your objective without the routing and remote
> access service (RRAS) but configuration of your setup will be much easier
> with it. Plus I recommend it because it's not only more visible, but it's
> more secure and makes for far easier administration.
>
> 1) My first guess is that your XP clients were not pointing to the correct
> default gateway. Their gateway must be the internal LAN interface of the
> RRAS server 192.168.0.2. Check that.
> 2) That LAN interface itself *must not* have a default gateway. It should
> be blank. Only it's external network connection should have a DG (default
> gateway) assigned.
> 3) Where is the DNS server installed in this environment?
> 4) Is Active Directory installed in this environment?
>
> --
> Todd J Heron, MCSE
> Windows Server 2003/2000/NT; CCA
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> This posting is provided "as is" with no warranties and confers no rights
>
>

Is the multihoming with multiple NIC's problematic? I did get it working as
you have described for the most part. I disabled the 2nd NIC but the router
on the linksys cannot be turned off, so I had to turn it off on the server...
not ideal.

I'm really trying to get the multihoming with 2 NIC cards to work properly
so I'm going to attempt to work the solution of Todd Heron first.
--
Thanks, pkdenver


"Jeff Cochran" wrote:

> On Sat, 18 Jun 2005 14:21:01 -0700, "pkdenver"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >
> >I have been trying to get a very small network assmebled in my home office.
> >I'm a web developer who needed a server environment to host test web sites
> >for 2003 deployment.
> >
> >I was performing what I thought should be a very straightforward 2003 server
> >installation on a new box. The configuration is as follows:
> >
> >One cable modem to comcast.net
> >One Linksys Router with 4 port switch. (WRT54G)
> >One LinkSys 4 port switch ( EZXS55W)
> >Server contains two Linksys network adapters. (new with latest drivers)
> > card 1 - external network connection (goes to router switch port)
> > card 2 - Internal network goes to Link Lynksys 4 port switch
> >
> >Router IP 192.168.0.1
> >Internal static IP of 2003 Server 192.168.0.2
> >DHCP on router is turned off.
> >Router has latest driver upgrades.
> >
> >Client Computer running XP Pro connects to Lynksys 4 port switch.
> >
> >We have not had any success in getting the server to communicate between the
> >internal and external networks. The XP clients can see DNS and get assigned
> >IP addresses. They can never get to the outside network through the external
> >network card of the server. We have tried numerous IP address cofigurations.
> > The closest we can get is to not use the DHCP server on 2003 and rely on the
> >Linksys router for ip addresses.
> >
> >We think it's a routing problem in the routing table but we are not familiar
> >with modifying the routing table. We were not using the routing and remote
> >access service. Not sure if we need it.
> >
> >Any good references someone could point us to or have a secret setting we
> >are missing. There are obviously lots of settings to deal with here and
> >thought we have tweaked most. Even tried reinstalling the server numerous
> >times just to get everything back to a baseline.
>
> Get the second card out of the server. Plug the server directly into
> the Linksys cable router. Plug the 4 port switch into the cable
> router. plug each clinet into either the switch or oruter, as space
> allows. Install DNS on the server and set your ISP's DNS as a
> forwarder. Disable DHCP on the cable router. Enable DHCP on the
> server. Serve IP addresses form DHCP with the router address as the
> default gateway and *only* the server's IP for DNS. Enjoy your
> connectivity.
>
> This works with either a workgroup or domain setup.
>
> Jeff
>