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Moved Windows Server 2003 to home

Hi,

We have a PC that we use as our server with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server (Service Pack 2) installed.

We use this server for DHCP, DNS and Active Directory as well as storing files on the network in our office.

I moved this Windows Server to my home.

I powered up this server, with the server not connected to my network.

On the server, I stopped the services DHCP, DNS and WINS Server.

My router does the DHCP for my network.

I have one Windows laptop on my network.

How do I connect the server to my laptop as a network share and display a new drive letter on my laptop?

Thanks,
Robbie
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Lee W, MVP
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Your router CAN'T do DHCP for the network unless you reconfigure your router to hand out the SBS server as the DNS server.  Active Directory REQUIRES it be the ONLY DNS server on the network (there are technically ways around this but not unless you're a DNS expert).

Active Directory domains allow PCs to find resources through DNS.  Your existing router is giving out your ISPs DNS server and when your laptop tries to connect to the server, your ISP doesn't know where it is or that it even exists.  So it can't tell the laptop where to connect to the server.  The server's DNS server and DHCP server (which tells the laptop which DNS to use) allow you to connect.  Disabling them causes you problems.

Then there are the numerous security issues you're opening yourself up to by using a server that is no longer supported  and hasn't been for more than 5 years.  
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Setting the IP manually will not brick the server if you do it correctly. The wizard just automates the process.
I disagree. You MUST use the wizards with SBS 2003. SBS has so many integrated services much cannot be changed manually.  The IP affects DNS, DHCP, Exchange, Sharepoint, AD sites & services and more. Changing manually breaks these.
@some one
SBS works (Worked) fantastically well - WHEN YOU USED THE WIZARDS FOR EVERYTHING.  If you treated SBS like just a bundling of features, you created MANY problems with reliability and maintenance.  
I've done it manually in SBS 2003 literally more times than I can count. The problem comes when you don't know what needs to be changed, and how. The services essentially are the same, just restricted in some cases. As long as you know what you're doing you can successfully change the IP manually.
Glad to hear.  You must be far more familiar with SBS than Lee, Jeff Kane (TechSoEasy), and I. 
What makes you think I'm not?
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Hi all,

Thank you for your suggestions.

I use a Huawei B535 router to provide internet to the network;
https://www.amazon.co.uk/HUAWEI-B535-235-Unlocked-Antennas-Worldwide/dp/B08B43CHVZ

I checked my router's interface and see that DHCP server is enabled.

The option for DNS was hidden but I revealed it through Developer console. It had tick box for manually changing DNS and ticking it made primary and secondary same as LAN IP as default. These values can be changed. I have set this tick box to unticked for now.

There was also a setting called DDNS which is not setup yet.

I stopped the services DHCP, DNS and WINS Server on the Windows 2003 server so it would not conflict with my router.

The server is not yet connected to my internet network as I don't want to cause any problems for the server.

The server was setup for our network domain in our office so I do not wish to mess around too much with the IPs and settings.

The main reason I wish to connect up the server on my network is to access the files stored on it.

Preferably I would like to be able to access them using my laptop through a share on my network but before doing so I would like to make sure it is okay to connect the server to my network.

What do you think?

Thanks,
Robbie



If you connect the SBS to the network in it's normal state it will see the DHCP server on the router and shut down its own DHCP server.  You can disable SBS DHCP and use the router's DHCP, but as Lee mentioned the router's DHCP needs to be set to ONLY hand out the server's IP for DNS.  Thus you cannot shut down the DNS service on SBS.  It will also break Active directory and cause logon problems.  Also the router's DHCP needs to be set to hand out your local domain information such as MyDomain.local .  SBS is not server standard, especially 2003 and before, and cannot be treated as such or you will break services.  It also has to remain as a domain controller or it will start shutting itself down every hour after 7 days.  You can change its LAN IP to match the home networking IP scheme using the change server IP wizard, and then running the "Configure Internet Connection Wizard", but I would be more tempted to change the router to use the SBS as the DHCP server for home or just set up a PC to share the files.
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Hi Rob,

Thanks for your advice.

I had the server turned off last night and turned it on recently.

I found that the DHCP, DNS and WINS server started themselves up again.

I understand what you mean about having the server do most of the work. That would make sense if we planned to have the server powered on 24/7 but it is possible that we may only sometimes have the server powered on for when we need to access and work on the data.

In that sense, if we have the server turned off then other devices connected to network would have problems as the server would be doing the DHCP. This is why I am looking to see if the server could be connected to network without any problems like a PC connected to the network having the router do the DHCP.

Also, I am assuming we would have to choose an IP address for the server that is not in the DHCP range given out by the router.

Thanks,
Robbie






SBS 2003 is a unique product.  Use it as intended or get rid of it.  You will only create nightmares for yourself trying to customize it.

And again, there are no security updates and if >13 year old drives it could die at any minute.
Hi,

I have left DHCP turned on for my router.

I turned off DHCP on the server but left DNS and other services turned on.

I got the server connected to the network via Ethernet cable where it got its IP address and DNS through DHCP from router.

The server could connect to internet fine.

I have used the same details for static IP address as it shows for DHCP, where I used ipconfig command in CMD to get the details such as IP, subnet mask and gateway, but could not get the internet to work as well as it does on server when using DHCP.

1. Should a static IP address work if same details as it was when DHCP gave IP address for server?
2. How can I set up a network share on the server so other devices on network can access specific shared folders for this Windows 2003 server?

Thanks,
Robbie









How did you set the static IP on the server.
And, did you use the new server's IP and domain suffix on the router to configure its DHCP scope?
Hi Rob,

The server is connected to network via Ethernet cable.

On server, I went into Network Connections, clicked on Local Area Connection, Internet Protocol [TCP/IP], then properties.

Through this I clicked on "Obtain an IP address automatically" so the server would receive IP through DHCP from router..

Then I used ipconfig in CMD to see details such as IP address, subnet mask and default gateway for the server.
I recorded these details.

I went back to the "Internet Protocol [TCP/IP]" option again but set the option as "Use the following IP address".

I entered in the details received from command prompt mentioned above.

After doing this it seems to connect but I can't do things like ping google.com so assume it is not properly working.

I have made no change to the router.

What do you think?

Thanks,
Robbie





I think you did not use the wizard as suggested. You may not use other services such as RWW, Sharepoint, Exchange, but thy may now be broken as well. The problem may be the server is pointing to itself, as it should be, but the old IP, or the forwarders are not configured.  The wizards will do that.  Run them now. For the record, if UPnP is enabled on the router, the wizard will try to configure the router.

If you go back 15 years on Experts-Exchange you will see 1/2 of the problems with SBS 2003 are due to not using the wizards.  Many knowledgeable IT folk who know servers think they can manually manage SBS servers discover SBS is not server standard.  The change IP and configure internet connection wizards are the two most important.  You can manually configure and have Internet and file sharing, but you cannot do so and have all services working.
Hi Rob,

I used the "new connection wizard" to connect to internet broadband connection.

UPnP is enabled on router. Should I turn it off before setting IP through wizard?

Where would I go on server for setting static IP via wizard?

Thanks,
Robbie
Most of the online documentation for SBS 2003 is gone.  The Configure server IP wizard is straight forward.  But the following link may be helpful with the CEICW
http://sbs-rocks.com/sbs2k3/sbs2k3-n2.htm

For the record you don't need a wizard on SBS 2008/2011 to change the IP.
I would turn off UPnP on the router.  It is a security risk to have enabled any way, and SBS will try to open ports for services you will not be using.  Run the "Change server IP wizard", when complete run the "Configure E-mail and Internet Connection Wizard".  At the end you will get an error that it cannot configure the router.  You can ignore that as you are configuring manually.

So the way DNS will need to work is the server points to itself (the wizard will configure that) and the PCs have to point ONLY to the SBS so they can resolve the server's DNS name. You need to set the router's LAN/DHCP configuration to point ONLY to the SBS.  All DNS queries will therefor go to the server.  The server then uses forwarders to connect to your ISP's DNS or whatever DNS servers you choose to use.  The forwarders are also configured by the CEICW.  The problem for you with this is if the SBS is shut down, PCs will have no DNS.  If the SBS is not going to continue to run you will have to use your ISPs DNS on the router and connect to the server using its IP rather than name. The server still needs to be set statically using the wizards.

This is a bit like trying to use an aircraft carrier when all you need is a row boat :-)
Lee's suggestion of copying the files to USB and sharing makes more sense. 
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No comment has been added to this question in more than 21 days, so it is now classified as abandoned.

I have recommended this question be closed as follows:

Split:
-- 'some one' (https:#a43179004)
-- 'Paul MacDonald' (https:#a43178992)
-- 'Lee W, MVP' (https:#a43179538)
-- 'some one' (https:#a43180436)
-- 'Rob Williams' (https:#a43179018)


If you feel this question should be closed differently, post an objection and the moderators will review all objections and close it as they feel fit. If no one objects, this question will be closed automatically the way described above.

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