Add Domain Controller to Home Network

[easg]

Ok, I have 10 PC connected to the internet via Router a Linksys router to be exact, the router y configured to get the ip address via DHCP and it address is 192.168.1.1, the question is how can I add a Windows 2003 domain controller to this network without affecting the internet sharing and DHCP of the router?.

[faulkner132]

Sure. Just do not install the DHCP service on your 2003 machine.

[stuartkeith]

Ive got this and its not as simple as that as such!

Like you say you dont have to install DHCP what you need to do is the following

Install on server

Active Dir
DNS
File/PS
And anything else you need

In DNS set the DNS forward lookup zone to be the routers IP address

ON the PCS set the ip address to be automatic and manually assign the DNS server to be the IP address of the server.

If you do not do this you can be waiting upto 10 minutes or more to log into the machine.

[easg]

I don`t understand this part "In DNS set the DNS forward lookup zone to be the routers IP address"

[stuartkeith]

Once you have installed DNS you will have a DNS option in Admin tools and also on the startup screen when 2003 loads up. Click the "manage this DNS server" from the splash.

Click on the little computer icon in the left pain and in the right you will see a list of options. One of those will be called "Forwarders"

In here add the routers ip address as the main one and your ISPs DNS are the secondary.


THen any IPs that the server cannot resolver it will question the router/ISP.

If you do not do this when you log on the pc will try to resolve the host name/passwords with the ISP and not the server and can take ages to timeout and continue to load!!

[easg]

"ON the PCS set the ip address to be automatic and manually assign the DNS server to be the IP address of the server".

if the server is getting address via DHCP from the router how will I know which address is the server?

[glc]

I would recommend you assign a static IP to your server, it makes for easier administration of the whole setup that way. Just make sure it's not in the DHCP scope of the router.

[easg]

Ok, if the router is 192.168.1.1 the server could be 192.168.1.2 always checking that this address is out of the scope, then in DNS in the PCs I set up the DNS server to be 192.168.1.2.

[glc]

Yes, and use one of the ISP's actual DNS servers for the second DNS.

[easg]

Another question, what about if I want to add a router to share internet in a existing domain with its own DHCP server? I checked the manual of a router and it says that it is posible to disable the DHCP service in the router, how would it be? will it work if I disable the dhcp in the router and make the DNS set up explained above?

[glc]

Yes, you would change the internal IP of the router to one in the server's subnet but outside of its DHCP scope. You would then set the server to use the router's IP as the default gateway.

[easg]

Ok if the server is 192.168.0.1, and the DHCP scope exclude the first 10 address, the router could be 192.168.0.2, then I set the Forwarder in the DNS in the server to be the router`s IP and the second is the ISP DNS server, then in the TCP/IP set up in the server I set the router`s IP to be the default gateway (192.168.0.2) and in the PCs I set up the TCP to get the IPs via DHCP and the DNS to be the router IP address and as second DNS server the ISP DNS.

[glc]

No, you don't use the router's IP for primary DNS, you use the server's IP. The server is the DNS provider for the LAN. The router is only acting as your Internet gateway.

[stuartkeith]

To get ur isp DNS you can view the connection status in the router or use ipconfig /all in a dosbox.

Set that to be the 2nd dns in the PCS and the forward lookup zone on the server, thatway if the server fails for some reason you should still have internet access.

My router gives its ips to whatever port the pcs are plugged into, hence I havent needed to change the ip address. (eg port 3 ip is 192.168.0.3)

[easg]

And what about this "Click on the little computer icon in the left pain and in the right you will see a list of options. One of those will be called "Forwarders"

In here add the routers ip address as the main one and your ISPs DNS are the secondary." Another question, In both scenarios do I have to set up the TCP/IP of the server to use the address of the server as the default gate or just in the second scenario?

[glc]

If you are using a NAT router for Internet access, the default gateway should be the router's IP address on all machines on the network. If you are using the router for DHCP, that will be taken care of automatically except on machines that you set to a static IP.