Running two NICs for failover in one machine

[Guest]

Hi!

I have been given the information that it is neccessary to run Windows 2000
Advanced Server in order to run two NICs in one server for failover purposes.

Is this true?

If it is NOT true, what are the major differences between Win2K Server and
Advanced Server?

Thanks
Cheers
Rob

 

[Leonard Severt [MSFT]]

Hi!

I have been given the information that it is neccessary to run Windows
2000 Advanced Server in order to run two NICs in one server for
failover purposes.

Is this true?

If it is NOT true, what are the major differences between Win2K Server
and Advanced Server?

Thanks
Cheers
Rob

No it is not true. You can have multiple nics on 2000 Server or even on
a 2000 or XP workstation. The biggest differences are Advanced Server
supports more memory, processors and also clustering. Take a look at
this.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/howtobuy/choosing/default.as
p


Leonard Severt
Microsoft Enterprise Support

 

[Guest]

Thanks Leonard,

Are you saying then that it possible to have dual-NIC network failover
without needing to upgrade to Advanced Server? ie. I'll have servers with two
NICs. They will be configured with the same IP address. One will be connected
to SwitchA, the other NIC will be connected to SwitchB. If SwitchA dies, will
the system continue to be connected to the LAN and accessible via SwitchB?

This is what I need to achieve...

 

[Leonard Severt [MSFT]]

Thanks Leonard,

Are you saying then that it possible to have dual-NIC network failover
without needing to upgrade to Advanced Server? ie. I'll have servers
with two NICs. They will be configured with the same IP address. One
will be connected to SwitchA, the other NIC will be connected to
SwitchB. If SwitchA dies, will the system continue to be connected to
the LAN and accessible via SwitchB?

This is what I need to achieve...

No it is not true. You can have multiple nics on 2000 Server or even
on a 2000 or XP workstation. The biggest differences are Advanced
Server supports more memory, processors and also clustering. Take a
look at this.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/howtobuy/choosing/default.
as p


Leonard Severt
Microsoft Enterprise Support

I should have asked you what you meant by failover. What you are
describing is NLB which is a type of Cluster and requires Advanced
Server. It will use 2 nics for communication and if 1 fails I believe it
will continue to use the other. I have not worked with Cluster though so
don't know the details.

Leonard Severt
Microsoft Enterprise Support

 

[Guest]

Leonard,
Can you tell me how to make this work? I have a W2K server with two NICs
(LAN and LAN2) manually configured for different IP addresses(x.x.x.46 and
x.x.x.47).
With both connections up I can browse the internet fine, but when I lose
LAN connection I cannot get to the internet.
What am I missing here?

TIA - Bruce

 

[Leonard Severt [MSFT]]

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Leonard,
Can you tell me how to make this work? I have a W2K server with
two NICs
(LAN and LAN2) manually configured for different IP addresses(x.x.x.46
and x.x.x.47).
With both connections up I can browse the internet fine, but when I
lose
LAN connection I cannot get to the internet.
What am I missing here?

TIA - Bruce

As I said I don't have real experience with Cluster Server, I just know
the basics. I believe you would have to setup NLB (Network Load
Balancing) which would link those 2 NIC's together and should allow one
to work if the other fails. I wish I could give you detailed info.

Leonard Severt
Microsoft Enterprise Support.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Leonard,

That's just what I wanted to know...

Cheers
Rob