How to configure hosted db and webserver?

Hello,

I would like to ask for some advice concerning our network configuration, I
hope
someone can help me to find the best solution.

We are planning to created a hosted environment at a hostingcenter,
consisting of two rack servers: a database server and a webserver. We will
manage both of them from our office location. The webserver should be
publicly available whereas the database server should ideally be better
protected and only accessible from our company. All servers have 2 NIC's and
use Windows 2003 Standard Edition.

Now my question is what would be the best way to create this configuration?

I can think of some options (but I suspect there are others as well)
A. Give both servers a public IP address and configure them in the same
workgroup. They can access eachother on their public IP.
+ This should work
+ Easy to configure (no domain controller required etc)
- The workgroup might be visible to all servers in the hosting center?
- The database server is accessed on its public IP, not only for the webserver
? I don't know anything about how safe Workgroups are but I have a feeling
that domains provide tighter security options

B. Create a new domain and make one of them the domain controller
+ Probably more secure
- Harder to configure
- More complex to maintain
- Feels like overkill for two servers
? It creates a domain consisting of two public IP addresses, is that oke?

C. Give the Webserver a public IP on NIC1 and a private IP on NIC2 (like
10.10.5.1) and the database server only a private IP on NIC1 (10.10.5.2)
+ The webserver can contact the database sersver
? How to configure the gateway of each server?
? How could we contact the database server from our office, using Remote
Desktop? Perhaps we can use the second NIC for it?


Or perhaps some other configuration?

I hope someone can assist me in chosing the best configuration. Please keep
in mind that I do not have extensive system administration knowledge but I do
know basicly how to configure Win2003, DNS and IP configuration.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Sincerely,
Jeroen


JBJBJB

Hi JBJBJB,

It'll be a bit complicated, but you might look at the Microsoft hosting
guides. I have used these before to build hosting components and you might
be able to pull best practices out. Note that there are large and small
configuration examples in here so you'll have to pay attention and choose the
right scale for you.

http://www.microsoft.com/serviceprov...edhosting.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/serviceprov...onhosting.mspx
--
Ryan Hanisco
MCSE, MCTS: SQL 2005, Project+
http://www.techsterity.com
Chicago, IL

Remember: Marking helpful answers helps everyone find the info they need
quickly.


"JBJBJB" wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I would like to ask for some advice concerning our network configuration, I
> hope
> someone can help me to find the best solution.
>
> We are planning to created a hosted environment at a hostingcenter,
> consisting of two rack servers: a database server and a webserver. We will
> manage both of them from our office location. The webserver should be
> publicly available whereas the database server should ideally be better
> protected and only accessible from our company. All servers have 2 NIC's and
> use Windows 2003 Standard Edition.
>
> Now my question is what would be the best way to create this configuration?
>
> I can think of some options (but I suspect there are others as well)
> A. Give both servers a public IP address and configure them in the same
> workgroup. They can access eachother on their public IP.
> + This should work
> + Easy to configure (no domain controller required etc)
> - The workgroup might be visible to all servers in the hosting center?
> - The database server is accessed on its public IP, not only for the webserver
> ? I don't know anything about how safe Workgroups are but I have a feeling
> that domains provide tighter security options
>
> B. Create a new domain and make one of them the domain controller
> + Probably more secure
> - Harder to configure
> - More complex to maintain
> - Feels like overkill for two servers
> ? It creates a domain consisting of two public IP addresses, is that oke?
>
> C. Give the Webserver a public IP on NIC1 and a private IP on NIC2 (like
> 10.10.5.1) and the database server only a private IP on NIC1 (10.10.5.2)
> + The webserver can contact the database sersver
> ? How to configure the gateway of each server?
> ? How could we contact the database server from our office, using Remote
> Desktop? Perhaps we can use the second NIC for it?
>
>
> Or perhaps some other configuration?
>
> I hope someone can assist me in chosing the best configuration. Please keep
> in mind that I do not have extensive system administration knowledge but I do
> know basicly how to configure Win2003, DNS and IP configuration.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help,
>
> Sincerely,
> Jeroen