Need advice on building a domain network

Hi guys, I am just starting to study for my 290 and need to setup a domain network for my lab. I have 3 client pcs and 1 server with 2003 enterprise edition, all connected to a 4-port Netgear router. Ok I have already installed active directory and DNS on this server but having problems joining the client pcs to the Domain. I can't even ping the server from this clients. Am I missing something? This is my first time building a domain network so any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

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royal

Do the lights on the rj45 ports light up when connecting from the client computer to the switch? Check the rj45 ports on the nic and the switch and make sure those LEDs are lighting up. Make sure your clients are retrieving ips. Are your clients configured to use DHCP? If so, where are they getting DHCP from? Does your Windows server have dhcp installed on it? Does your home router have DHCP installed on it? Perhaps both your Windows Server and your home router are giving out IP addresses. If this is the case, perhaps one dhcp server has given out IP addresses to your client which are on a different subnet than your Windows Server. I doubt it's your ethernet cables since you said none of your clients can ping. Make sure you are using straight-through ethernet cables, not crossover cables. Also, check your Windows Server firewall. It could be blocking icmp responses. I doubt this is the case since your clients cannot even join the domain which makes me think it's actual network connectivity issues rather than just the firewall blocking a response. It's something to keep in mind though.

eltoro

icroyal wrote:

Do the lights on the rj45 ports light up when connecting from the client computer to the switch? Check the rj45 ports on the nic and the switch and make sure those LEDs are lighting up. Make sure your clients are retrieving ips. Are your clients configured to use DHCP? If so, where are they getting DHCP from? Does your Windows server have dhcp installed on it? Does your home router have DHCP installed on it? Perhaps both your Windows Server and your home router are giving out IP addresses. If this is the case, perhaps one dhcp server has given out IP addresses to your client which are on a different subnet than your Windows Server. I doubt it's your ethernet cables since you said none of your clients can ping. Also, check your Windows Server firewall. It could be blocking icmp responses. I doubt this is the case since your clients cannot even join the domain which makes me think it's actual network connectivity issues rather than just the firewall blocking a response. It's something to keep in mind though.

Thanks icroyal for the reply. I don't have DHCP installed on the server because the client pcs already have dymanic ips from the router. would I need to install DHCP on the server and then bypass the ISP's DHCP?

Silver Bullet

Do you have the client PCs set to use the Domain Controller as their DNS server?

sprkymrk

Make sure there is no firewall running on the server. Can the server get to the Internet? You need to use forwarding on the server to your ISP DNS so you can resolve Internet addresses, but your clients need to use the DC for their DNS to join and participate in the AD domain. Since clients are using the router for DNS, they probably are using the ISP DNS.

Do an ipconfig /all on the server and 1 of the clients, and post the output here for us to help you figure it out.

malcybood

Thanks icroyal for the reply. I don't have DHCP installed on the server because the client pcs already have dymanic ips from the router. would I need to install DHCP on the server and then bypass the ISP's DHCP?

Try the below:

1. Install DHCP on the server

2. Change the router setup to add a DHCP relay agent address (address of your windows 2k3 DHCP server)

OR

Disable DHCP on the router then ensure your hosts are setup for DHCP which they appear to be if they are picking a DHCP from the router and this should be all you need to do unless as previously mentioned your firewall is blocking anything.

Check the firewall/security suite on each PC for which networks are permitted/denied

This is assuming you have the Windows server part/domains setup properly

royal

eltoro wrote:

icroyal wrote:

Do the lights on the rj45 ports light up when connecting from the client computer to the switch? Check the rj45 ports on the nic and the switch and make sure those LEDs are lighting up. Make sure your clients are retrieving ips. Are your clients configured to use DHCP? If so, where are they getting DHCP from? Does your Windows server have dhcp installed on it? Does your home router have DHCP installed on it? Perhaps both your Windows Server and your home router are giving out IP addresses. If this is the case, perhaps one dhcp server has given out IP addresses to your client which are on a different subnet than your Windows Server. I doubt it's your ethernet cables since you said none of your clients can ping. Also, check your Windows Server firewall. It could be blocking icmp responses. I doubt this is the case since your clients cannot even join the domain which makes me think it's actual network connectivity issues rather than just the firewall blocking a response. It's something to keep in mind though.

Thanks icroyal for the reply. I don't have DHCP installed on the server because the client pcs already have dymanic ips from the router. would I need to install DHCP on the server and then bypass the ISP's DHCP?

Well, your router will be giving your internal clients private ip addresses. Personally, I would recommend in this case you either configure static ip addresses on your clients with the following information or set up DHCP on your Server:

Clients:
Ip address on the same subnet as domainc ontroller
Same Subnet Mask
DNS to point to Domain Controller
Default Gateway to point to home router

Domain Controller:
Ip address on same subnet as clients
Same Subnet MAsk
DNS to point to itself
Default Gateway to point to home router

It sounds like the issue you are having right now is that you configured your Domain Controller using an ip address/subnet that is different than what your router is assigning your clients. As Mark stated, if you post your ipconfig /all info from your Server and Clients, we can see what exactly needs to be changed.

blargoe

Since you're getting DHCP from the linksys router, and it's probably set default, the PC's probably get the IP of the router or the IP of your ISP's DNS server as their Primary DNS server instead of the domain controller. You can follow icroyal's advice, or simply disable DHCP on the router, and set up DHCP on the domain controller.

If DNS is wrong nothing will work.

When you said you couldn't ping, was that by name or IP address or both?