DNS

yes and no

You cant have 2 sbs server on the same domain

right, so i'm ok?

Yes you should be fine.

I haven't played with the 2003 version of SBS, but the 2000 version was pretty keen on trying to start a DHCP server - you may want to ensure it doesn't do anything like that as it would potentially interfere with your current setup.

blackhawk.local is just the authentication domain, for a webserver that part of it doesn't need to be public (or even publicly accessible) - just as long as IIS (and SQL) can find it.

Of course there's the usual restrictions in place, so no forming trusts etc etc.

HTH

Chris

thanks, yes i disabled DHCP so i think everything should be ok...

I agree :)

No, you're not OKAY... you CAN'T use TWO SBS boxes on the same network.  (Chris - it's much more than what you are describing... the domain controls ALL user logins and file permissions).

It's not about DNS, but Active Directory (which will host the DNS when you set it up right).

If you're going to add an additional server to an SBS network, then it must be a Server 2003 Standard edition or web edition.  (Being that you want to run SQL on it, then you may want to reconsider your deployment... perhaps running your accounting on a separate Server 2003 machine so that you can get the benefit of Exchange running on your main server).

You probably want to pick up the Advanced Best Practices Guide from http://www.SMBNation.com which details a number of deployment scenarios (and while you're there, get the Basic Best Practices Guide... it'll help a ton!)

Jeff
TechSoEasy

Just to make it a bit clearer... if you have users that already have "accounting.local" user accounts, then they will not be able to access anything in the "blackhawk.local" domain.  So, user1@accounting.local may not access your SQL server, your printers, your fax or any other domain resource on blackhawk.local.  If your intent is to keep accounting separate, then you will need to keep them as two distinct networks.  

Jeff,

All in the interest of providing something like a complete answer :)

I'm not familiar with the SBS license to say why having two of them on seperate logical networks is violating it?

Both SBS servers are (as described in the original question) the root of the forest, and the primary domain controller (one on accounting.local and one on blackhawk.local). Does SBS perform detection to see if another (unrelated) SBS server is functioning on the same IP Range?

I agree that it isn't an ideal product to use for hosting. Web edition doesn't allow you to install SQL Server, so the options there are basically Standard or Enterprise (or two servers). It is worth noting that Web Edition doesn't require Client Access Licenses though - so it can often be a good option, again depending on the number of clients that require access.

Basically, the options for what is used depend on the resources available - and of course if the choosen path is one that works.

Chris

All makes sense, and I always forget about XP for such things.

So generally would be better to try and avoid setting up SBS for this.

Chris :)

aaarrgh.  too complicated :)

thanks for the great discussion guys.. Now, i'm just not sure where to go from here.  We just bought this server to be our application server, of course not understanding the whole SBS issue.  We went with SBS premium b/c it comes with SQL server.. I set my own account up in the new server's active directory, now i can access that server over the network so I can develop my app on it (i'm a programmer, not a server amdin, hence the problems...!), and I should be the only one who needs to.  Besides that, everyone will just be accessing internally it like this:

http://kioskApp/

one thing, the new SBS came with 5 CALS, so that's ok right?  (not sure how the whole CAL thing works)

it's been up running on two domains since yesterday, no problems.

-Trevor

note: we can't afford to buy any more OS's or servers, so we're stuck with 2 SBS's

Well, sorry to say you can't use 2 SBS's on your network, no matter what.  You need to sell one of them or return the one you just got, unfortunately.  

I think you should find a local Microsoft Partner who specializes in SBS to help you determine your best course of action.  If you need a referal, please let me know.

Jeff
TechSoEasy

Essentially the transition pack turns an SBS into a Standard Server 2003, but it would make more sense, if your accounting.local machine is SBS standard to migrate that all over to your new machine, and then just use the CAL's that came with accounting.local by adding them to the blackhawk.local machine.  

Jeff

transition pack looks expensive!!  what we wanted to do was have a seperate server handle everything this application needs: IIS & SQL Server.  If you buy windows server 2003 and sql server by itself, its way more expensive, which is why we went with SBS, not knowing of the issue with 2 SBS....

What's keeping you from putting it all on one machine?

the boss wanted to keep it seperate, so we could have something to grow into, b/c eventually we will need a seperate application server

thanks all for the suggestions

i'm still trying to figure out what to do, but at least i have some direction thanks to you all

no prob... good luck!

Best of luck Trevor