Windows Forum

Ask something
Discussion Locked

Home network setup

0 helpful
8 replies

by fongch

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.
I have installed Win2k server and would like to set it up as a server mainly for internet and file sharing. Do i need to have dhcp, wins and dns installed? I tried to assign a static ip for the server at 192.168.0.1 followed by creating my own dns server at 192.168.1.10 and created my domain called server.home.net. When i boot up, it is taking a long time b4 i see the login box. Advise pls.

8 replies

by mm212

If this machine is connected to the Internet, you will have a problem using 192.168.x.x for an IP and the home.net name. This IP is reserved for internal network use that will never connect to the Internet and the home.net domain is owned by @Home.
If you want to connect this machine to the Internet, you will need a public IP that is either assigned by your ISP or InterNic. The same goes for the domain name.

by bentgellerich

If you just want to share internet, you don't need any services. You have 2 simple options. First uninstall the Active Directory (run DCpromo.exe again). Next thje easiest solution is to use ICS. you activate ICS by clicking start, Settings, Network and dial-up connections. Right-click on the external adapter (the one connected to the internet, or modem)and select properties. On the sharing tab select the "Enable Internet Connection Sharing for this Connection" check box.

W2k will set your Internal Adapters (the one connected to your LAN)IP to 192.168.0.1. Now set all your clients to DHCP and voila. ICS will assign IP's to all your clients (up to 254) and perform name resolution on their behalf(DNS). Option 2 requires a bit more configuration. Open Routing & Remote Access from the admin tools. right click the server and configure. A wizard will walk you through setting up NAT, which is essentially the same as ICS, but way more configurable. Also if you plan to keep the Active Directory you must do it this way!! Good Luck and Email me if you need more help

by bentgellerich

Let me clarify that unless you initially set your network to use 192.168.0.0 range, you CANNOT use ICS with Active Directory. You will experience what Microsoft calls "Unpredictable Results". If you did set it to that range it will work, but will not reliably.

by rayze

Hey,
I have an almost identical setup at home. I have win2k running on my main machine, and i have cablemodem connected to it. That machine has 2 NICS one is connected to the cablemodem and the other to my internal network hub. You do not need to uninstall active directory if you have it installed already, all you have to do is enable INTERNET CONNECTION SHARING in the network properties on the nic that sees the internet. With windows 2k you can also enable port forwarding if you're running a certain type of server on another machine. Also you dont' need to use dhcp if you don't want to.
If your dns server is runnin on that same machine I don't think you need to give it a separate ip, however i'm not sure. IF the machine takes long to boot up during the "Preparing Network Connections" dialog box, that makes sense because if you're running dns or ics, these are network services that are started during this phase.

This discussion is closed to new replies.