how to stop sbs requesting dhcp addresses

Go into services mmc snap in under computer management. Look for dhcp client and set it to disable.

multiple NICS?

no - nice thinking though. So Im right that this is unusual behaviour for SBS?

hi plimpias
service wont shut down - web http autoproxy discover thing depends on it and wont shut. Have disabled both and am rebooting to see what happens. But I need the dhclient running to get to connect to assorted vpns.  Any idea what might be triggering dhclient to behave like this?
Glenn

Can you post the log that your are seeing.

ok - will do tonight (aust time) - like you said though disabling the dhcp client stops this behaviour

You are not right in thinking that this is unusual behavior for an SBS.  An SBS cannot exist as a product test bed on an active network.  For this purpose, you need to deploy your SBS as a VIRTUAL MACHINE within Virtual Server 2005 R2 and keep it on a virtual network as well.

Jeff
TechSoEasy

interesting comment Jeff - ok well that certainly coi-incides with a number of other behvavious ive had to takle - I'll take that approach - you sound very specfic about choice of virtual machine - any reason I cant use vmware?

glenn

Interesting though - I've been running this SBS for 6 mths or more - and it hasnt ceasd to continue operating - but like you say SBS clearly wants to be top dog - ok - thanks for the tip.

SBS is a very different kettle of fish than your standard OS! I am jsut beggining to work with it now and its differences are confusing!

indeed - Im still bumping into issues (other system at other location where its used for what its meant for) - like its name implies its um 'purpose built' and geared towards  a specific use - no point even trying to go outside of that

indeed! Jeff is the master of SBS so listen to what he has to say about it

I always would suggest putting any test servers or computers in a virtual environment. The real good news is the virtual pc is now offered by microsoft for free.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=6D58729D-DFA8-40BF-AFAF-20BCB7F01CD1&displaylang=en

yeah  - but I cant run it under linux - they mean free as in beer not speech

I'm recommending Virtual Server 2005 because it works much better natively than VMWare.  While the host OS is not free, VS 2005 is.  If you are just experimenting though, perhaps you need a MSDN license so you can get all the OS's included as well.

Jeff
TechSoEasy

ok guys thanks for all you input - virtual server wont be an option, because Im not prepared to invest in another windows license to put on the bare metal, in order to host the windows instance I wish to use - so vmware on some *ix it will be given there are no technical restraints and it another network - thanks for that tip Jeff - sounds very sound.

In the mean time however I've 'fixed' the problem buy configuring my real dhcp server to only issue the address its already fixed  to for that mac address- this seems to make the whole thing behave better - still - wish I under stood why sbs would be doing this.

thanks again all
Glenn

Just an FYI, you can have 4 Virtual Servers with 1 License

Glenn,

To understand why SBS would be doing this requires that you understand that SBS as a product is quite unique.  It is intended to be the central server for a small network.  It's designed to operate all major server functions in one box (although it does allow for other servers on the network).  Because of this design, and because the intent is to simplify network administration, there are certain conditions that must be met.  

Consider that SBS includes components that you would never consider putting on the same box in an enterprise network setup... but on SBS they are supported and work just fine.  The requirements to be controlling over it's environment are necessary to keep everything working well.  So, SBS has a unique service running (SBCORE) which enforces these things.  You cannot disable this service, because doing so would cause catastrophic failure (not to mention breaking the EULA, but in this case, that's secondary).

Hope that helps a bit...

There is much more info available about SBS at http://sbsurl.com/techguide  and an overview for IT Pros is here:  http://sbsurl.com/itpro

Jeff
TechSoEasy

Thanks for the links Jeff - I do appreciate philosophically the value of SBS, the fact that its tailored to a niche and how fitting into that niche provides the determning factor in some design decisions - I guess when I said why I was more thinking mechanistically - like if it has an address for it sole network card - what will it do when it gets a second, third and fourth one from another server etc etc  - and how does that particular behaviour assist its role as 'top dog' in a small net.  (Though Im not specifically asking you or this group to come up with an answer - more just side musing)

I'll read these and try and get my head around this stuff as Im encountering sbs more and more.

Glenn