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2 NIC setup in SBS 2003 Standard

I'm running SBS 2003 Standard (no ISA) and I'm in the process of adding a 2nd NIC to the server. It's a simple network with 10 users connected to the server through a hub. The office connects to the Internet through a Netopia router supplied by our ISP. Before the addition of the 2nd NIC, everything is connected to the hub. The 2nd NIC (external) will connect to the ISP's router directly. The problem I'm having is with a Cisco router that connects our our office WAN. Before the 2nd NIC, it has been functioning correctly connected to the hub. Once I add the 2nd NIC and connect it to the ISP's router, users can't access the WAN. How do I hookup the WAN router in the new 2 NIC setup? Below is the setup I use for my 2 NIC configuration. Do they look right?

My internal NIC is:
IP ADDRESS      192.168.0.27
SUBNET MASK      255.255.0.0
DEAFULT GATEWAY      BLANK
PREFERRED DNS SERVER      192.168.0.27
ALTERNATE DNS SERVER      BLANK
PRIMARY WINS SERVER      192.168.0.27
CABLE GOES TO      OFFICE HUB

My external NIC WILL BE:
IP ADDRESS            172.16.0.1
SUBNET MASK            255.255.255.0
DEAFULT GATEWAY            172.16.0.254
PREFERRED DNS SERVER            192.168.0.27
ALTERNATE DNS SERVER            BLANK
PRIMARY WINS SERVER            BLANK
NETBIOS OVER TCPIP            DISABLED
CABLE GOES TO            NETOPIA ROUTER (ISP CONNECTION)

Netman66

You need to setup RRAS as a basic firewall so that it will route between NICs.
You also need to make sure the clients only point to your server for DNS and the gateway.

Where is the Cisco connected - a little more on this setup would be helpful.

BruceHSanford

ASKER

Where is the Cisco connected? It's connected to the hub along with the server, all users and the ISP's router now.

Won't RRAS setup happen when I run ICW after installing the 2nd NIC?

Netman66

ICW is a client-based version of RRAS. For a server, use RRAS.

Now, I'm a little confused with the Cisco. You have a Netopis to the ISP and the Cisco goes ... where?

BruceHSanford

ASKER

Cisco connects to the hub. Actualy, the server connects to the hub also as does our ISP router and all users.

BruceHSanford

ASKER

If users are looking for the WAN, I need to tell the server that it can't be found at the ISP's router(?) Is this a DNS problem?

Netman66

You need to setup the ISP's router on one interface of the SBS server, the other interface goes to the hub.

As long as RRAS is setup as a firewall then it will route properly.

All your clients including the server must only point to your DNS server. On the Forwarder tab of the properties of the DNS server is where to put the ISP DNS server entries - nowhere else.

Where does the Cisco go to? I'm a little confused why you have 2 routers.

BruceHSanford

ASKER

The Cisco connects us to our Wide Area Network via a T1 line.

Jeffrey Kane - TechSoEasy

Netman's comment about ICW is incorrect... Bruce means the Configure Email and Internet Connection Wizard (CEICW) which does set up RRAS, and is the only way you should configure an SBS.

Please see http://sbsurl.com/twonics for an example of how to set this up.

See http://sbsurl.com/ceicw and http://sbsurl.com/msicw for more info.

Jeff
TechSoEasy

Jeffrey Kane - TechSoEasy

I would note also that you should not use a 255.255.0.0 subnet for your internal IP range... there's no reason. A /24 subnet is just fine since you can not have more than 75 devices on your network anyhow.

Also, if you are having problems with the NICs connecting, check out their binding order in Network Connections > Advanced > Advanced Settings. The Internal NIC should be first.

Jeff
TechSoEasy

BruceHSanford

ASKER

TechSoEasy: You're right about the subnet - it should be 255.255.255.0 (actually that was typo on my part, sorry). I have verified the binding order as internal NIC 1st.

Netman66: I have 2 routers plugged into my office hub - is that unusual (I'm still learning about networking)? The Netopia uses a crossover cable & the Cisco does not. Is that unusual? Should the Cisco WAN router be connected directly to the Netopia from our ISP? Right now the Cisco is in the hub.

Netman66

No, it's not unusual. Most of the time you either have a single router with 2 interfaces, or you have the ISP split the Internet traffic out of the Point-to-Point link.

It's fine the way you have it. You should, however, change your hubs for switches.

stevew1999

I think it sounds unusual. What is the ip scheme of your WAN? If you are trying to connect different private subnets on the same interface then the routers have to know about each other or the nic on your server has to know which way to route the traffic. Try adding a second ip address to the nic on your server in the same subnet as your WAN. Make the gateway your WAN router.

You can do this in the advanced tab of the tcpip properties.

BruceHSanford

ASKER

Stevew1999: The internal NIC is IP 192.168.0.27 Subnet 255.255.255.0.
The address range of of the internal network is (static IPs) 192.168.0.20 -192.168.0.100.
The Cisco router has internal IP address 192.168.0.1. Through this router we access the WAN at 10.0.0.5. Will this be a problem?
Netopia router has internal IP address 192.168.0.254

For the external NIC I was going to set it's IP address to 172.16.0.1 and change the Netopia to 172.16.0.2. Does that sound reasonable?

Netman66

As long as there is a persistent rout to the WAN (10.0.0.5) then there is no issue.

route add 10.0.0.0 mask 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.1 /p

This needs to be added to every PC and server on the LAN.

I am assuming your mask is /24 for the 10.x network, but insert whatever it is (if it's different).

Jeffrey Kane - TechSoEasy

What is all that for??? are you running other networks off your internet connection?

If not, I'd refer back to the http://sbsurl.com/twonics example I provided.

Jeff
TechSoEasy

BruceHSanford

ASKER

TechSoEasy: I'm definitely learnng as I go so my description may contain incorrect terms, etc. I have the pages from http://sbsurl.com/twonics and they are very helpful. I'm just not sure how to do this 2 NIC setup incorporating the Cisco router that allows access the Company WAN via a T1 line. The last time I tried the switch to 2 NICs, the WAN was unavailable afterwards.

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Netman66

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stevew1999

I agree with Netman66. If his schematic represents your situation then you'll need to use the route statement on your clients that he referenced in an earlier post.

route add 10.0.0.0 mask 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.1 /p

BruceHSanford

ASKER

Thanks TechSoEasy and Netman66. I have tried to accomplish my goal of having 2 NICs for several weeks using some of the advice I received here and elsewhere. A tech at my local ISP convinced me to abandon the 2 NIC setup. He said that I have the Netopia firewall for security already and "Having a second NIC active on a separate network in a domain controller can cause problems that are very hard to isolate and fix".