Physical server network

lazyart

So, how do I do this?

I have Win XP pro on the two machines used by all in the house. I have Win 2k Pro Advanced Server on a spare machine and want to get the feel for putting together a server-based domain/network. Yeah, I know it will change things (for a little while anyway) for the other machines, but I am dying to get this worked out.

DSL is piped into a router, from which all the machines feed. When I try to set up the server as the lone server on the network it tells me there is already an existing server. I'm guessing this has to do with the router acting as a DHCP server...am i right? Does my internet feed have to come to the server first, then to the router? I do have two routers to play with if need be.

So far all i can do is share files, and set up DFS to pool all resources into a single directory structure. Users accessing DFS resources must log in with the username/password i entered into the server. Is this all I can expect to do with my hardware?

This all looks like fun. I think Net Admin is my ultimate goal.

TIA.

RussS

Hey lazyart

Yes, sounds like you have your server set up for DHCP when your router is already configured that way. You have a few options depending on the router you have. I am using a Dynalink RTA210 which is then connected to a switch and all my machines to that.

Exactly what are you wishing to set up on your network. I have a couple configurations I use here depending on what I am studying for.
Anywhere between 2 & 6 machines with at least 1 XP machine all the time and a W2K server set up depending on what I need to be doing. Unless I am particularly working with DHCP I set my ADSL router to use manual IP addressing and configure each machine individually. Then I do the reset to help me learn DHCP configuration. It is a really changeable network as all of my machines have removeable drive bays and I run everything from 3.1 up to my trial version of 03 server - including Linux. I did have an old mac, but once it died I didn't want to spend valuable funds on it.

lazyart

What am I wishing to set up? Hehehehe, I haven't a clue. I'd like to see what is possible. It would be nice if I could

Since I don't own a domain I won't need to handle mail, but I would like to see internet access go through the server. Will I need a hub for this? It "seems" this is the physical setup:

Modem-->Server-->Router/Hub--->client PCs

Can it be done like this?

Modem-->Router-->client & server PCs

I can disable DHCP in the router setup and can even configure it as a gateway (default) or router.

Maybe I am getting ahead of my studies. I will be finishing A+ this week and moving to N+ shortly after and aside from the peer-to-peer I have set up at home I have done nothing.

If you can suggest a book or books I can read up on it.

cheeblie

Typically you would want the ISP -> Router -> Client/Server. Doing it the other way would require a multihomed machine, and that really isn't necessary since you have your router. If you have more than one computer that you're setting up, which I assume you would, you could also get a second router in order to get some practice with subnetting. In that case you may actually want to setup your network as ISP -> 3 NIC Server (NAT/Proxy/Firewall aka Bastion Host) -> 2 Routers from that -> Client/Server PCs on each subnet.

(Sorry for the terrible drawing)

That may be a bit confusing, but it's always better to have experience with more complex setups, as it will allow for a better understanding of LANs. I am of course assuming that you are using a multi-port router that are sold to consumers mostly (LinkSys, NetGear, etc.). If you aren't, of course you will need some kind of switch or hub. Hopefully this will give you some ideas for your network setup.

Cheeblie

lazyart

The drawing is just fine. Since I do have a second router (coincedentally, I have one Netgear, one Linksys) I could fashion something like that. Thankfully I can do some of this wireless.

Each router would govern a workgroup, in which machines would be peer-to-peer, correct? Or is it possible to be part of a workgroup XXX, regardless of where the clients are physically connected? A simple answer is good enough... I'm sure I can read up on the how-to's when I really get deep with this.

<geek moment>This is soooo cool.</geek moment>

cheeblie

I'm a bit confused. I thought you were setting up a domain based network. There would be no workgroups in this setup. Are you confusing workgroups with a VLAN?

Cheeblie

lazyart

I thought in a domain network you could still have seperate workgroups that could share between each other, but across other workgroups.

What I WOULD see more useful (and would be my goal here) is to have a network that internet access comes thru the server, and resource sharing is governed only by the PDC via DFS.

When I enabled DFS I was able to access files thru the server, but since the "clients" were still in a workgroup, nothing was to stop them from sharing amongst each other-- poor security IMO.

Webmaster

lazyart wrote:

What I WOULD see more useful (and would be my goal here) is to have a network that internet access comes thru the server, and resource sharing is governed only by the PDC via DFS.

I assume you are using a different server for the Internet access than the server you want to designate as a PDC?

There aren't workgroups in a domain-environment. Perhap you can set up a domain (by installing a PDC) and add a member server that performs NAT (install RRAS) and connects to the Internet/cable router (this member server would indeed be multi-homed)?

pandimus

Im kinda on the same path as him. But wondering if I could do it with 56k.
I have a server comming in the mail right now. I will be buying a hub or a router soon. I currently have two clients and will be picking another one up soon (for a system loader.. Just to try out different OS's and how they will logon to the domain and what-not) My current clients have windoze xp installed.
I have an older 266 that I might be able to use as a router(? good idea?)


Basically I want my PDC, to also act as the internet computer.. Only have 56K in my area.

Can you guys recommend anything else?

Thanks Pandimus

lazyart

Webmaster wrote:

I assume you are using a different server for the Internet access than the server you want to designate as a PDC?

There aren't workgroups in a domain-environment. Perhap you can set up a domain (by installing a PDC) and add a member server that performs NAT (install RRAS) and connects to the Internet/cable router (this member server would indeed be multi-homed)?

What I have:

Cel 400 Win 2k Adv Server
Laptop Win XP Pro
Desktop Win XP Pro
Linksys Wireless Router
Netgear Router (wired only, currently collecting dust)

The goal is to use server to feed internet to other machines and to set permissions on shared resources that may reside on any of the three machines. I do not want clients to share resources peer-to-peer.

Is it multihomed if the Server is connected to the net, then distributes to my personal network? One IP coming from my ISP, and the second being 10.0.0.1, which I think Win2K tried to assign it to until I realized I wasnt connected to the router (duuuuh).

lazyart

Well, I got this thing going a week later.

Everyone is connected to the router. All that was necessary was to install Active Directory on the Server and give the domain a name, then added the computers by name to AD. Next I started up the other machines and joined them to the domain. After a reboot it was all good.

The router is handling DHCP. The benefit here for the house is that if you can still log on locally and use the net. Logging on to the domain obviously give you access to the resources available (it's an MP3 server!). This lets me get my feet wet with a lot of things that I couldn't before.

Oh, and you still end up installing DNS on the server even though it is not the DNS server. Necessary I suppose to find the domain local.host that i created.

Hope this helps the next guy.