two NICs - is Windows Server 2003 choosing the best one?

I have two NICs in my server. Since we have two DSL-lines for the moment, I
connected my server to both. One DSL-line is consistently below 500Kbps and
the other 1Mbps. When browsing the internet my server chooses the fastest
connection.

Is this by chance, or is it making some "intelligent" choice based on some
parameters? Shortest-path calculation?

Regards,

--
________________________
Rolf Barbakken @ Questus ans
Teknisk ansvarlig
Web: http://www.questus.no

hope this help. quoted from http://www.ChicagoTech.net
Routing order

If you have two NICs in the same subnet on one w2k/xp computer, you wonder
which NIC is been used as primary NIC to access the Internet. In most cases,
when adding the second NIC on a w2k/xp computer, the first one is the
primary NIC. You may change the order by going to Advanced menu of the
Network Connection>Advanced Settings>Adapter and Bindings. If the settings
doesn't work (by default, the faster NIC will be chooses as primary NIC) or
if you want to override the settings, you can assign metric # manually by
going to the Properties of the Network Connection>the Properties of the
Network Connection>Advanced.


--
For more and other information, go to http://www.ChicagoTech.net

Don't send e-mail or reply to me except you need consulting services.
Posting on MS newsgroup will benefit all readers and you may get more help.

Robert Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN, Anti-Virus, Tips & Troubleshooting on
http://www.ChicagoTech.net
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties.

"Rolf Barbakken" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have two NICs in my server. Since we have two DSL-lines for the moment, I
> connected my server to both. One DSL-line is consistently below 500Kbps
> and
> the other 1Mbps. When browsing the internet my server chooses the fastest
> connection.
>
> Is this by chance, or is it making some "intelligent" choice based on some
> parameters? Shortest-path calculation?
>
> Regards,
>
> --
> ________________________
> Rolf Barbakken @ Questus ans
> Teknisk ansvarlig
> Web: http://www.questus.no
>
>

I have two NICs on different subnets - each have their own dsl-connection,
but one of the NICs is connected to the LAN with a local IP-address, and
have a gateway/router to the internet. The other NIC is connected directly
to the internet through a dsl-modem.

Its probably the addressing that is making the choice easy here - local
addresses are communicated through the NIC with a local address, and
internet addresses are communicated through the NIC which is directly
connected to the internet.

Is this the likely explanation?

"Robert L [MS-MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> hope this help. quoted from http://www.ChicagoTech.net
> Routing order
>
> If you have two NICs in the same subnet on one w2k/xp computer, you wonder
> which NIC is been used as primary NIC to access the Internet. In most
cases,
> when adding the second NIC on a w2k/xp computer, the first one is the
> primary NIC. You may change the order by going to Advanced menu of the
> Network Connection>Advanced Settings>Adapter and Bindings. If the settings
> doesn't work (by default, the faster NIC will be chooses as primary NIC)
or
> if you want to override the settings, you can assign metric # manually by
> going to the Properties of the Network Connection>the Properties of the
> Network Connection>Advanced.
>
>
> --
> For more and other information, go to http://www.ChicagoTech.net
>
> Don't send e-mail or reply to me except you need consulting services.
> Posting on MS newsgroup will benefit all readers and you may get more
help.
>
> Robert Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
> Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN, Anti-Virus, Tips & Troubleshooting on
> http://www.ChicagoTech.net
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties.
>
> "Rolf Barbakken" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> >I have two NICs in my server. Since we have two DSL-lines for the moment,
I
> > connected my server to both. One DSL-line is consistently below 500Kbps
> > and
> > the other 1Mbps. When browsing the internet my server chooses the
fastest
> > connection.
> >
> > Is this by chance, or is it making some "intelligent" choice based on
some
> > parameters? Shortest-path calculation?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > --
> > ________________________
> > Rolf Barbakken @ Questus ans
> > Teknisk ansvarlig
> > Web: http://www.questus.no
> >
> >
>
>

I am surprised that it works at all. Usually having a default gateway set
on the "private" NIC is enough to stuff it up completely. The server should
only have one default gateway and one default route, and that default route
should be out through the "public" NIC.

"Rolf Barbakken" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:OPrXNU%(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have two NICs on different subnets - each have their own dsl-connection,
> but one of the NICs is connected to the LAN with a local IP-address, and
> have a gateway/router to the internet. The other NIC is connected directly
> to the internet through a dsl-modem.
>
> Its probably the addressing that is making the choice easy here - local
> addresses are communicated through the NIC with a local address, and
> internet addresses are communicated through the NIC which is directly
> connected to the internet.
>
> Is this the likely explanation?
>
> "Robert L [MS-MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> hope this help. quoted from http://www.ChicagoTech.net
>> Routing order
>>
>> If you have two NICs in the same subnet on one w2k/xp computer, you
>> wonder
>> which NIC is been used as primary NIC to access the Internet. In most
> cases,
>> when adding the second NIC on a w2k/xp computer, the first one is the
>> primary NIC. You may change the order by going to Advanced menu of the
>> Network Connection>Advanced Settings>Adapter and Bindings. If the
>> settings
>> doesn't work (by default, the faster NIC will be chooses as primary NIC)
> or
>> if you want to override the settings, you can assign metric # manually by
>> going to the Properties of the Network Connection>the Properties of the
>> Network Connection>Advanced.
>>
>>
>> --
>> For more and other information, go to http://www.ChicagoTech.net
>>
>> Don't send e-mail or reply to me except you need consulting services.
>> Posting on MS newsgroup will benefit all readers and you may get more
> help.
>>
>> Robert Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
>> Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN, Anti-Virus, Tips & Troubleshooting on
>> http://www.ChicagoTech.net
>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties.
>>
>> "Rolf Barbakken" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> >I have two NICs in my server. Since we have two DSL-lines for the
>> >moment,
> I
>> > connected my server to both. One DSL-line is consistently below 500Kbps
>> > and
>> > the other 1Mbps. When browsing the internet my server chooses the
> fastest
>> > connection.
>> >
>> > Is this by chance, or is it making some "intelligent" choice based on
> some
>> > parameters? Shortest-path calculation?
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> >
>> > --
>> > ________________________
>> > Rolf Barbakken @ Questus ans
>> > Teknisk ansvarlig
>> > Web: http://www.questus.no
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>