I am trying to set up a small domain for my business. I just purchased a Windows 2008 server and would like to use it as my domain controller.
Also, I just had a new ATT DSL line put in. It came with a 2Wire modem/4-port router/wireless router device, therefore the modem can handle DHCP. The line has a static IP address as well so that I can eventually use my own exchange server and web server.
I have tried 2 different configurations and couldn’t get either to work so I am looking for some advice.
1) I tried to put the router into Bridged Mode and use DHCP server on my server using a PPPoe connection to connect to the Internet. I was confused as to what my static IP address and default gateway of my server should be.
2) Then I tried to turn DHCP server off on the server and routing back on the modem/router. This didn’t work either.
What method would you recommend and why?
Also I have some additional questions on each method.
Method 1)
* What is the static IP address of the server. Is it in the 192.168.1.x address or the static IP assigned to my account?
* Do I need a second Nic Card And Router to connect to the rest of my network or can I use the router provide
* What would the Static IP addresses of the additional PC be. Do I need more than 1 static IP from AT&T;
Method 2)
* Will this allow me to use all internal IP addresses on my machines and use port forwarding if I want a specific box to be a web server or exchange server.
Fist things first, get your internet setup and working.
Because this is a server and you say you want to have a windows domain, you will want to give the server a static LAN IP address. If your router’s LAN IP is 192.168.1.1, then give your server 192.168.1.10 The rest of the settings (for now) will be as follows:
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
DNS: 192.168.1.1
The line has a static IP address as well so that I can eventually use my own exchange server and web server.
Your ISP will have provided you with these TCP/IP settings. These need to be applied to the WAN side of your router.
I’m not sure why you set the router into bridged mode in step 1, but you shouldn’t have to and that could be why nothing worked.
What method would you recommend and why?
Once you have the internet working, your question is, should you run DHCP on the server, or on the router. If it were me, I’d do it on the router. The main reason I would do it that way is it takes that load (albeit a small one) off the DC.
If you don’t mind a suggestion, I highly recommend you hire a qualified professional to help you get this setup. Especially if you want to run a windows domain. I can tell you don’t have a lot of experience with this and attempting to get this all setup and working yourself is going to be problematic.
If you’re physically plugging the second router into the combo unit (combination modem/router) then you don’t use bridge mode.
If you click on my name above in my response and read my “how-to” guide titled, “◦Add a second Router to your LAN” it will give you details on how to interconnect the two routers. You’ll want to use the “LAN port to LAN port” connection scenario since you’ll only be using one subnet. This will get rid of having to use bridge mode.
If you’re connecting wirelessly, then you’d have to put one in bridge mode but if it were me, I’d go with the wired solution in this case.
Curts suggestion was .10 which is what I was following. Point is for local name resolution to work both the work stations and the server need to point to the server dns server. You also need to configure forwarding as suggested by ijack at the end of his post.
I said to use something like 192.168.1.10 because you hadn’t specified what your server’s IP was (you since said it was 192.168.1.2) and I was just giving an example. When you read my guide, you’ll see I have .1 as the first router’s LAN IP and I then use .2 for the second. This is why I said use .10 for the server. No biggie, you can configure whatever IP’s you want as long as the static IP’s you use are outside the DHCP Scope you have configured.