Hello All, Could anybody provide me direction please, i am new to server world. I want to connect windows server 2008 R2 to the internet via wireless router at home. My wireless router Netgear G router wgr614 is connected to cable modem and server is physically connected to the router through cat6 cable. I want to configure all my server roles including domain controller to play with them basically for learning reasons. However i have also a wireless laptop which i want to connect with internet directly to internet when server is unavailable but when server is available user can login to active director and can access shared resources. In above scenario i am not sure how to configure network, do i need to give static ip address to my server if yes what ip address should i give to the server? And what subnet mask, default gateway and DNS server i need to assign to the server machine. Do i need to enable DHCP on server or just through router? Thank you so much in advance for helping me for setting up my home network. imran

Hello, you have to understand that a domain is different from a normal workgroup. In a domain all domain members have to use the domain DNS server, in your case the domain controller, as DNS server on the NIC only, otherwise you run into troulble domain internally. A domain requires a properly setup of DNS, Active directory fully relies on DNS. So in you case the problem exists that domain machines must use the domain DNS server and none else, therefore use also the DHCP on the server and configure the scope settings to use the DC also as DNS server. So keep the DC up and running as it is used for and configure the forwarders on the DNS server properties in the DNS server management console to the ISPs DNS server. Having the router also providing DHCP you run into trouble at the point if a client gets an ip address from it but should contact the domain. Mostly the router configuraiton for DNS is different and that way the client can't find the DC to authenticate and you can't logon.Best regards Meinolf Weber Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights.