Not sure if this is the right place to post this but I'll give it a try as the VMWare forums aren't helping :( I'm trying to set up a Windows domain in a VLAN. My target setup is as follows - Host - Windows Server 2008 Standard running VMWare Server 2.0.1 - fixed IP x.x.97.102 VM1 - Windows Server 2003 running as domain controller and SQL Server - required IP x.x.207.231 VM2 - Windows Server 2003 running CRM Server and Sharepoint - required IP x.x.207.232 VM3 - Windows Server 2003 running Exchange - required IP x.x.207.233 All the VM's need to be able to talk to each other unrestricted so the domain can function internally Each of the VM's needs to respond to an external IP address (detailed as required IP) as if it was directly on the internet. IP filtering or firewall on the internet facing connections to be used to protect the servers on the external IP address.All the external/required IPs (231-233) point resolve to the host machine.So I'm guessing the host could route all traffic to say x.x.97.231 straight to VM1 without any filtering? And so on for the other 2 servers? If this is correct, I don't know how to do it All the IP addresses are fixed, supplied by the hosting company and not changeable. Bridging connections are not an option I'm told as the hosting company see's the new MAC address that they introduce to the network and shut down the server until it's disabled. So nothing that introduces new MAC addresses to the network is allowed. There is also no external DHCP available. Ideally I would like to be able to VPN into the VLAN and join the domain, not essential but a nice to have. I'm a developer and my networking skills are very limited. Solutions to this would be great. By the same token links to documentation that can help me understand the required solution would be great as well. Thanks in advance for any help offered. Vinci Nolo

Do you really mean VLAN or do you simply mean a virtual network? VLAN has a precise meaning quite different from a virtual network. You should be able to do that by routing through the host machine. In Hyper-V you would create an internal virtual network. This is a virtual network with a connection to the host. I don't use VMWare so I can't tell you what this is called in VMWare land.You would connect the vms to this network and route between the host NIC and the LAC connected to the internal network. You can manually enter the MAC address for each interface from the vm settings. (Again you can in Hyper-V. I can't speak for VMWare). You would need to give the LAC an IP address in the same IP subnet as the x.x.207.23x IPs. I don't know what that would be since you have not specified the subnet mask. The routing would be basically like this. Internet | x.x.97.102 (physical NIC) router x.x 207.230(LAC attached to internal network) | x.x.207.y default gateway x.x.207.230 (vms on internal network) where 230<y<234 I prefer to route through a vm rather than the host, but if the traffic is being routed to the host's NIC you would need to makea few changes to make that work.Bill

Thank you for the reply. You're quite right, I'm getting terminology mixed up, it is a virtual lan and not a VLAN. Could I ask another favour. Would you be able to point me in the direction of any documentation or give me an idea of what to look for in order to be able to set up the routing?

If the host is running Server 2008 you could use RRAS as your router. The fact that you are running vms and virtual networks does not change how IP routing works. Look at a basic text on IP routing or the help files for RRAS. I haven't run that particular config but I have set up some pretty complex scenarios with vms and virtual networks. They have all worked exactly as expected.Bill