I liked the way SBS sets up extra protection with 2 Nics. I tried with Server 2003 and have had no luck getting DHCP to work. I then reinstalled SBS just to make sure the 2 nics work and check the configuration and will try to reinstall Server 2003. Are there any pointers to follow to use an intenteral ip for local address and then use the other nic for external internet trafic? Should I just try and make it simple and setup one Nic? I want to use RAS for a VPN connection and exchange 2007. Will exchange 2007 work on SBS?

Hi Calitech- Let me see if I can help out here, but I think I need some more details to understand what you're attempting to do: >> Are there any pointers to follow to use an intenteral ip for local address and then use the other nic for external internet trafic? Are you asking about how to route traffic between the two NICs you've installed? Do you have one NIC connected to a local network (e.g. a 10.10.x.x network) and the other NIC connected to an Internet connection (e.g. from your ISP)? If this isn't happening on its own,you cando this with the "route add" command-line to plumb down specific routes. However, it's not very clear what you're attempting to do, and it could be related to how you've configured, for example, the ISA Server FW settings. >> Should I just try and make it simple and setup one Nic? This might be a good first step, but I'd also suggest you look at the guidance up on the SBS site for some pointers: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/sbs/techinfo/productdoc/default.mspx >> Will exchange 2007 work on SBS? The only hard and fast requirement for Exchange 2007 is that it is an 64-bit only release. So, as long as your SBS server is running 64-bit, you should be able to install Exchange 2007 on it. Also it's worth noting this FAQ on the Exchange 2007 site: Q. Will Exchange Server 2007 be part of Microsoft Windows Small Business Server (SBS)? A. Yes, Exchange Server 2007 will be an integral part of the "Longhorn" (code name for the next Windows release) version of Small Business Server (SBS). SBS is expected to be released six to twelve months following the release of the "Longhorn" version of Microsoft Windows Server.

I have exactly the same problem. Maybe I can explain it more fully. As you have surmised, Ian, the server is sitting between the internet and the local network. One NIC is connected to the local network computers with it's own IP range (ie. 10.10.x.x as you noted) and the other NIC is connected through the modem/router to the ISP. SBS set this configuration up "automatically", but when I've tried to set it up manually in Server 2003 it just doesn't connect. The two NICs don't talk to each other and the computers on the local network don't have access to the internet. Could you point me to documentation that would cover this configuration for Server 2003? BTW the link you provided above is no longer active. Any help is greatly appreciated.

It is possible to do this, but it is not a good idea. Multihomed DCs have been a problem since NT days, and they still are. You will have all sorts of problems with name resolution and browsing if you multihome the DC. SBS is designed to run in this configuration but it is not recommended for other versions of the server OS. If you really want to do it, you install RRAS and configure it as a NAT router. You do not use the DHCP or name resolution options in NAT. You configure your clients to use the private IP of the NAT router as their gateway and to use the DC for DNS. You modify your local DNS to forward to a public DNS service so that it can resolve foreign URLs. To avoid the multihomed DC problems you need to make sure that the address of the public NIC of the DC is not seen by the LAN machines. That means preventing it from appearing in DNS or WINS. See KB292822 for details. For the LAN client machines, the name of the DC should resolve to its private IP address only.