Re: Install 3 times (triple crown)

Thanks Les. I think I am getting it but I thought I would share my current
configuration and take a stab at this.

Current Network

internet interface (public IP) - CABLE MODEM
[gateway router] - LINKSYS WIRELESS ROUTER w/built in 4-port switch
private ip, eg. 192.168.0.1 - IS ACTUALLY 192.168.1.1

[switch (could be built into router)] - IS as well as 2 other switches
8-port and 5-port

Currently only using 1 nic on production server nic, 192.168.1.105 (other
nic is disabled in BIOS)

All that said and looking at your configuration of:

wan nic, 192.168.0.2 wan nic, 192.168.0.3
[Production SBS] [Customer SBS]
lan nic, 192.168.16.2 lan nic, 192.168.16.2

Should I;
enable the other nic on production server, making it the lan nic?
assign and address of 192.168.16.2?
connect it to one of the existing switches?
Build the customer SBS box enabling both nics (assign address as you stated)
and also connect it to the same switch?

Or are you stating that my existing production server (with both nics
enabled) AND the customers box (with both nics
enabled) WAN SIDE, should be connected to the router w/built in switch and
the LAN SIDE of both boxes connect to a
separate switch along with all workstations?

I know you are not going to be as confused as I am so I will stop there.

Thanks!

"Les Connor [SBS MVP]" wrote:

internet interface (public IP)
[gateway router]
private ip, eg. 192.168.0.1

[switch (could be built into router)]

wan nic, 192.168.0.2 wan nic, 192.168.0.3
[Production SBS] [Customer SBS]
lan nic, 192.168.16.2 lan nic, 192.168.16.2

In the above example, the gateway router lan side is on the 192.168.0.x
network, as are the wan nics of the SBS boxes. Double homing the SBS boxes
allows the included basic firewall (RRAS) to keep the SBS networks seperate.
You can place a switch between either sbs lan nic and client machines. All
boxes on each network will be able to access the internet.

This allows you to completely build the SBS, and clients, if you desire. If
you then deploy the SBS to a customer site as a single nic SBS, and want to
change the IP - you run the change IP wizard followed by the Connect to the
Internet Wizard once the SBS is on site.

A limitation of the above setup is with incoming internet connections.
Generally, you'd use port forwarding on the router to route traffic by port
to the IP of the SBS server. The router can only route traffic a single port
to a single IP, so only one server at at time can use the common SBS ports
of 25, 443, 4125 (etc).



--
Les Connor [SBS MVP]


"PWT24" <PWT24@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:E35CAF4F-0F65-4261-AE16-6A7924DEEB18@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks guys. Although I have built, deployed and manage 4 servers for
various customers (15 or less users per network) I still am a bit sketchy
on
the 2 NIC configuration. 2 of the 4 servers that I have built in the past
have built in dual NIC's on the MOBO but I kept one disabled out of lack
of
experience. Can you point me to some documentation to explain in more
detail?

Thanks,
Tim


"Joe" wrote:

PWT24 wrote:
I have read some interesting posts regarding how newbies should install
SBS 3
times before deployment and I have a question that has always concerned
me.

With my home based business, like many, I have an SBS Network on a
dynamic
address. I am about to build a new server for a customer and have
never
completed 3 installs before deployment but intend to this time. (Past
experience; built 4 SBS servers with one installation and launched,
which are
in production now, different locations obviously. Thankfully they all
have
been running well for about 2 years)

My question is; how far can you go with the installation? There is a
point
when the server starts needing domain names and IP addresses. How will
that
affect what is running in my office now? Should I just not complete
the
setup? I would really like to go completely through the setup and test
the
server with workstations and then reload but I am unsure of the impact
it
will have since it will need the same IP address (I think?). Do I need
to
have a seperate address, maybe another ISP account?

I learned not to completely install and then deliver to the customers
site
from my last deployment. As I had nothing but IP problems for about 2
weeks
until I had an ex-microsoft employee walk me through correction.
However I
would like to install twice and test then the 3rd time install but not
go
through the connection portion until I am on site.


I think the issue here is not necessarily making three attempts at every
installation, but for novices to try it twice 'for fun'. If you are a
user installing your own SBS, never having encountered it before, do it
three times. If you've already done it a few times, that's filled your
quota and you might reasonably expect just to walk up to another machine
and get it right first time, unless you were using a particular hard
drive architecture for the first time. You might need to play a bit
first then.

If I was building a machine for a client, I would expect to make a full
installation to test the hardware, sort out driver issues, etc. I would
have notified the client of a need to come up with machine and domain
names, and then I'd wipe the drive and do it again once he had made
final decisions (and put them in writing). The second installation here
would be a matter of courtesy: I wouldn't phone up and say 'I've got
your computer, give me names now because you'll never get another
chance', and then not deliver the machine for another week or two.

There's not actually much you can do wrong. The only decisions Microsoft
has chosen to set in stone are the two names, and it would be safer if
you made the C drive big enough to start with, as resizing will always
be a bit hairy. Pretty much anything else you decide on installation is
adjustable later. My first SBS installation had DHCP disabled, as it was
sharing a network with an NT4 box, and using Exchange on that machine as
a local smarthost until the migration was complete. Nearly three years
on, that original installation is running well, still plenty of space on
C, in a different geographical location, having had three primary email
domain names, three different IP network addresses and many other
changes of configuration.

As to a build environment, my home server has two NICs and the external
subnet is the right place to connect an independent machine. That's
where my son's computer lives, as I won't let him inside the inner
firewall. I'd replug a workstation to the other NIC of the new machine
for testing, though there aren't many things that need testing that way.
Use the existing server and workstations to check remote operation, as
you can almost simulate an Internet connection like that, with both
external NICs facing each other.

IP addresses are no problem. The NT box I inherited had a public network
address assigned by the installer, and I never quite had the nerve to
try moving it to a private network range. Hints I have come across since
then suggest that I was right not to. SBS, on the other hand, has a
wizard to change its LAN range, and the external address of a two-NIC
machine has practically no connection with network operation. When you
connect to the customer's router, just re-run CEICW. You'll do that
several times during installation anyway. Once you have the customer's
choice of names, there shouldn't be any problem about making the final
installation, then delivering and connecting it.

In real life, you'll change faulty routers and move clients to new ISPs,
and that's more or less what you're doing in moving an SBS installation
to another location. You do need to be familiar with basic TCP/IP
networking, particularly with two-NIC machines. You should be able to
change the IP network addresses of both the LAN and the external NIC
and router IP address, as future VPN considerations may make that
necessary long after installation. If you're not rushed for time with
the new build, you can practice on that machine, knowing that you can
reformat all your mistakes away... the problem with using SBS on your
own server is that you can be a bit reluctant to try anything drastic.
It is, after all, a production machine.

And always ask Google first: there are few SBS issues that haven't come
up in this newsgroup. If you're really desperate, try the Microsoft
site, though I have a lot of trouble finding things that I *know* are
there somewhere.





.

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