I guess the deal is NEVER use RRAS on a domain controller. I'm no longer interested in why I shouldn't install RRAS on the dc, but I am still suffering from my decision to do it in the wake of some good advice. I plan to change this ASAP, but I need some help accomplishing this. Truly, RRAS acts weird when hooked to a dc, i'm not sure why, but i'm pretty sure the behavior is not right. Here is the setup router=embeded WAN config + LAN config gw= 192.168.1.1 dc = 2k8 standard, dns, ad, dhcp, & recently RRAS to facilitate VPN connections(the reason i'm working on Saturday and the phone is ringing off the hook!), ip 192.168.1.2, plugged into router directly fs= 2k3, managemore(pos database), ip 192.168.1.3, plugged directly into giga- switch Let me tell you about the LAN setup a little bit. 6 domain users use the dc, while the remaining users on the workgroup use the file server (fs) for managemore access. Ultimately the org wants all machines on the domain but it hasn't yet happened. The router forwards rdp requests to the fs, 192.168.1.3. VPN requests are sent to the dc, 192.168.1.2, for RRAS to resolve. I know, I know, now, that this is a NO NO, for sure. I don't know why it is that way, but the behavior makes a believer out of me! Here is the behavior No internet connection. The RRAS server was logging VPN sessions using the adapter, 192.18.1.2, which is the Public link containing DNS & DHCP. I had the RRAS server configured to receive ip's from a pool of more than fifty ip's, and not from DHCP. This amount of IP's should have been enough to answer request for 5 remote users, but somewhere along the line it snapped. My question is this: Is RRAS the culprit of the lost internet connection, and will disabling it on the dc and enabling it on 2k3 prevent this behavior from recurring? Please help if you're able.

Does anyone know how to correct this? Every new remote session appends the dc name to the dominname in RRAS, <servername>.<domainname>, myserver.abc.com. The adapter on the 2k8 box is set to register its ip with dns. Now with every session and new dynamic ip, dns doesn't seem to know what to do. Does anyone have any experience with this issue or know how to work through this? I believe this is what crashed the server and the reason why there is no internet connenction. Can anyone confirm or deny this? I need help getting users back to work.

Yes, this is caused by having remote access enabled on a DC/DNS server. As soon as a client connects, the internal interface in RRAS (which is the endpoint of the remote connection) gets an IP address and your DNS server is multihomed. This was a problem with Netbios names in NT and is also a problemfrom W2k on because of dynamic DNS registrations. There are ways around it but the best solution is to not run RRAS on a DC. See KB 292822.Bill

Thank you, Bill: IS configuring RRAS on the 2k3 a better approach? Right now the internet connection is down. Do you think the RRAS configuration "flooded" the server w/requests to the point that DNS no longer knew the right name and ip to resolve to? I know I must remove RRAS server from the 2k8 box and I will do that ASAP. How, then, do i correct DNS to enable users to reconnect to the internet once I uninstall RRAS from 2k8 and install it on 2k3? I really appreciate the help, BIll. This has been a real bear to fix because of the other problems surrounding the setup.

Bill: after uninstalling RRAS from the 2k8 box I need to establish the broken connection. Once removed, will using ipconfig /flushdns & ipconfig /registerdns reestablish the internet connection? Should I use those commands after installing and reinstalling, or following the uninstall and prior to reinstalling? Thanks again for your help. It's going to make a huge difference for the people who need access.