[Pr09]

I have a bit of experience, however I ran into a few problems when trying to setup my own personal network at home. I have read a book (O'Reily) on setting up windows server 2003 and at my current job I am fortunate enough to be able to work/play with their servers which are also windows 2003.

My Equipment
1 - Server (AMD Athalon XP 2800+; 1GB RAM; 80GB HDD)
2 - NICs
1 - 8-port workgroup switch (linksys EZXS88W)
1 - 4-port wireless G broadband router (linksys WRT54GS)
1 - Motorola Surfboard Modem (broadband from ISP)

Equipment Setup
The server's two NICs are setup as follows:

NIC (Router)
IP: 192.168.1.107 (static)
MASK: 255.255.255.0
GATEWAY: 192.168.1.1
DNS: 192.168.1.122

NIC (Internet)
IP: 192.168.1.122 (dynamic)
MASK: 255.255.255.0
GATEWAY: 192.168.1.1
DNS: 192.168.1.122

I have one computer (client - windows XP Pro) connected to the 8-port switch. The uplink port on the switch is connected to the Router NIC. The Internet NIC is connected to a port on the router (192.168.1.1 - DHCP is on) and the router is connected (via uplink port) to the modem.

On the server, I installed DNS for mydomain.com (my computers name is myhost) so there are records in there for mydomain.com and myhost.mydomain.com. These include NS, A and SOA records all out of the box and unmodified from the wizards implementation of them. I have my forward lookup zone set for mydomain.com and a reverse lookup zone set for 1.168.192.inaddr.arpa (i believe that was the syntax).

On the server I have also installed active directory (immediately after DNS was installed and the internet connection was tested and worked). I used DCPROMO to get active directory up and running and it passed it's diagnostic test with flying colors. I then proceeded to setup one new account named 'adam' and added him to the administrators group.

I then installed DHCP on the server (associating it with 192.168.1.107 - Router NIC) and authorized it for mydomain.com so it is now running.

My goal
I am developing a paperless management system (software) for a small business. I need to be able to test connectivity to the SQL database located on the server from inside the private network and from outside the network (via the internet). My plan is to get this network up and running so my 1 client computer can connect to the server (and see the internet). Also, I need to be able to access this server from outside the intranet (but that is a different post I'm sure).

My dilemma
As it stands right now, when I go to my client computer and try to connect to mydomain.com (via mycomputer->properties->computer name->change...) I am prompted with an error, saying the DNS server cannot be found (this error returns almost immediately). Directly before I installed DHCP I tried to connect to mydomain.com the exact same way and after the timeout period had expired I was prompted with the error, saying the DNS record could not be found for _ldap._tcp._mscd.mydomain.com. However, this record exists on my server...

Finally
So then, I ask you all this, what am I missing? Is this a common problem, because I am having trouble finding solutions when digging through forum posts. All I want to do is connect to my server from my client and still have internet access. (It should be noted that the router needs to stay where it is in the connection chain and must stay as a DHCP server).

Thanks to all for any assitance you can provide!

 

[Silencer]

Suggestion/Diagnostic
Set the secondary DNS to 208.67.222.222. This is a public DNS server.

Do you have Internet access now?

 

[zerofire]

Your little problem is that when your client goes out to find mydomain.com it searches the net for it. If a computer can't see the proper port open from the net it can't identify that the computer behind the router/modem exists. DNS must be accessible from the net as well as the LAN. You need to forward port 53(DNS) in the router to point at 192.168.1.107. I don't know anything about your modem but judging by the type you probably don't need to mess with it but if there is a feature to forward ports then you will need to use it.

To get SQL functioning you need to install it and then forward the respective port. SQL can have its port changed at setup so it can change based on the input. Also different SQL server programs have diffrent default ports(ex. MySQL:3306 SQL Server 2003:1433).

 

[ponteley]

The question is, do you need internet connection on the client?
If not, then I would do these:
modem > router(dhcp)>server(NIC1)
Client>switch>server(NIC2).
You have to set nic on the client for (dynamic), and nic2 on the server (static) with 1st IP from your dhcp scope. I think DNS should be the same as IP.
Then you have to join client to domain.