General Network Messing.....

[freakitchen]

Hi guys

Got a rather random, and in my humble opinion, rather pointless networking question on behalf of a colleague!

He has a modem/router combo which provides a broadband connection, and a gigabit switch connected to the router. He has 2 network cards in his system. His aim is to connect one card to the router, specifically for internet traffic, and one to the switch, specifically for internal network traffic.

Obviously, with both the router and switch providing an internet connection, both network cards would assumingly pick up internet. Is it possible to specify this kind of seperate use for both cards?

Thanks,

Freakitchen

[Gizmo]

I'd say yes.

[bailey]

that is the way some servers are set up.

[freakitchen]

Thanks! Any suggestions on how I'd tell him to set this configuration up in Windows XP?

Freakitchen

[Digitalic]

I`d question why it would be feasible to set it up this way.

One of the benefits to setting up a LAN network separate from a LAN\WAN (internet) network using two NICS is security. The network connected to the gateway (internet) would have file\printer sharing disabled then the LAN would be setup on an entirely different network and of course have file\printer sharing enabled. For example, on a purely TCP\IP protocol network setup, the gateway would be on say 192.168.1.xxx network with sharing disabled and the LAN setup on 192.168.4.xxx sharing enabled.

To further secure the LAN it is advisable to use NetBuie (spellcheck) or SPX\IPX rather than TCP\IP.

The problem you`d face is using the same switch which would be on the same network IP range so in order to operate two separate networks in the fashion you suggest defeats the purpose, in my view anyway, of running your networks on mutiple NICS. The LAN side is running through the gateway with file\printer sharing enabled anyway! Just kinda complicates things needlesly.

Simply put, operate the internet network off of the modem\router combo with file\printer shaing disabled and then run the LAN using a separate switch on a different IP range or protocol.

[freakitchen]

Thanks for the advice Digitalic - I agree that it seems a rather pointless setup, but hey, if he wants to mess around......

Freakitchen

[doctorgonzo]

If he's going to do something like this, he' should disconnect the router from the switch. If he doesn't, that's going to mess things up severely; also, keeping the switch connected to the router and setting it up the way he wants makes absolutely NO sense. It certainly won't get him any security benefits.

If he wants to use the computer as a sort of bastion host between the rest of the network and the internet, then disconnecting the router from the switch and wiring it as modem-->router-->NIC #1-->Windows ICS/NAT-->NIC #2-->Switch will protect any other computers on that switch somewhat, assuming the bastion host is configured properly. If there are no other computers on that network, then there is no point to this setup. If there ARE other computers on the network, and he doesn't disconnect the switch from the router, then his system isn't doing a thing to protect the network; the other computers will connect through the switch and the router, not through his computer.