Hi all, I'm hoping some one on here can give me a little help.... I have a test coming up, the scenario is I have to create two small networks consisting of the following: A server running 2003 configured with AD,DS, DHCP, Email and 5 user accounts with home foldersTwo XP client machines which the users can log onto the domain with, access their respective home folders and email other users on their domain. I have my two networks up and running and I can email users on their own domains/networks but later in the paper I have the following tasks: "Configure Network A to allow limited access by nominated users on Network B""Configure an email program to allow email communication between all users on both networks" All of this is being done in a virtual environment using Oracle virtualbox As it's a virtual environment I tried setting up another server to act as a router, I added a second network adapter, assigned static Ip's to both adapters, did a custom RRAS configuration, selected LAN Routing, the routing protocols are set to RIP V2 for both adapters, I then assigned static IP's to my domain servers using the RRAS as default gateway, same for DHCP. Router Server settings Local Connection 1 172.168.10.10 255.255.0.0 no d/g Local Connection 2 192.168.10.10 255.255.255.0 no d/g Domain Server A static settings 172.168.10.11 255.255.255.0 d/g 172.168.10.10 DHCP Address range 172.168.10.20/30 255.255.255.0 d/g 172.168.10.10 Domain Server B static settings 192.168.10.11 255.255.255.0 d/g 192.168.10.10 DHCP Address range 192.168.10.20/30 255.255.255.0 d/g 192.168.10.10 I can ping all virtual machines across both networks from each other... I cannot access any public folders on opposite networks and I am unable to email from Network A to Network B... I would really appreciate some advice on how I can accomplish communication between the users on the two networks in a virtual environment. Please forgive any stupid errors I may have made in my setup as I am still a noob at this. Thanks in advance for taking the time to read my plea, and for any advice you may be able to pass on. Oh, and I have no idea why we are using 2003 and XP for this test, we do have access to 2008 and Win 7 which is what I would prefer to learn. Jon

Hello Jon, Though it is having network communication, we need to create a domain to domain communication. Its can be accomplished by creating trust among the domains. Here is the link for trust relationship, which will guide you how to access resources across the domains. Please read this article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc740018(v=WS.10).aspx Also refer this thread once:http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-AU/winserverDS/thread/5d795b1f-35dc-4ee7-8a11-c0234efd1135Regards, Ravikumar P

Hello Jon, Though it is having network communication, we need to create a domain to domain communication. Its can be accomplished by creating trust among the domains. Here is the link for trust relationship, which will guide you how to access resources across the domains. Please read this article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc740018(v=WS.10).aspx Also refer this thread once:http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-AU/winserverDS/thread/5d795b1f-35dc-4ee7-8a11-c0234efd1135Regards, Ravikumar P

Another useful link:http://www.misdivision.com/blog/how-to-create-a-trust-in-windows-server-2008-r2Regards, Ravikumar P

Thanks for your reply EXRAPUL I'll go through them now..

I've tried to do it as it's set out in the above thread but I can't get it to work, I keep getting the following message "Cannot Continue The New Trust Wizard cannot continue because specified domain cannot be contacted. Either the domain does not exist, or network, or other problems are preventing connection" I can still ping across the networks in both directions is it because my domains are on separate networks? Regards Jon

Hello, You to make sure that needed ports to use are opened in both direction. You can use PortQryUI or PortQry V2 to check. Needed ports for domains trusts: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/179442 For DNS resolution, you can use conditional forwarders or secondary DNS zones. Use nslookup in both sides to check that DNS resolution is made correctly. For questions about RRAS, ask them here: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-us/winserverNIS/threads This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Microsoft Student Partner 2010 / 2011 Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Security Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows 7, Configuring Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Designing and Providing Volume Licensing Solutions to Large Organizations Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Enterprise Administrator Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Server Administrator Microsoft Certified Trainer

Hi Jon, As this thread has been quiet for a while, we assume that the issue has been resolved. At this time, we will mark it as Answered as the previous steps should be helpful for many similar scenarios. If the issue still persists, please feel free to reply this post directly so we will be notified to follow it up. You can also choose to unmark the answer as you wish. BTW, wed love to hear your feedback about the solution. By sharing your experience you can help other community members facing similar problems. Thanks for your understanding and efforts. Best Regards KevinTechNet Community Support