Win2k server, XP Pro clients, can I setup ICS on a client?

[Ron]

Hi all,

I'm trying to help a friend who has a small office network with win2k
server and 5 XP Pro clients.

An ex employee set up the server and initial network, he no longer works
there and they are in need of assistance.

I know my way around small home/office networks, having a 3 machine XP Pro
wireless network at home, but I'm at a loss with win2k and the domain
situation.

They have recently had broadband enabled and Im wanting to setup ICS on one
of the clients and let them access the net through that, leaving the server
in peace to share files.

There's problems with the server in that they have a free virus protection
program that will not uninstall. I suggested they format the server and
start over as it's partitioned into C: & D:, D: holding the shared folders
with the work files in. They are reluctant to format fearing total loss.
Also funds are very tight at the moment.

My problem then is ...can I safely setup ICS on a client to enable the
clients to access the internet? and then can I leave the existing internal
network alone with access to the servers mapped drives?

I hope you all actually understand my question let alone provide me with a
solution.

Thanks in advance guys.

Ron

 

[kr]

Hi all,

I'm trying to help a friend who has a small office network with win2k
server and 5 XP Pro clients.

An ex employee set up the server and initial network, he no longer works
there and they are in need of assistance.

I know my way around small home/office networks, having a 3 machine XP Pro
wireless network at home, but I'm at a loss with win2k and the domain
situation.

They have recently had broadband enabled and Im wanting to setup ICS on one
of the clients and let them access the net through that, leaving the server
in peace to share files.

There's problems with the server in that they have a free virus protection
program that will not uninstall. I suggested they format the server and
start over as it's partitioned into C: & D:, D: holding the shared folders
with the work files in. They are reluctant to format fearing total loss.
Also funds are very tight at the moment.

My problem then is ...can I safely setup ICS on a client to enable the
clients to access the internet? and then can I leave the existing internal
network alone with access to the servers mapped drives?

I hope you all actually understand my question let alone provide me with a
solution.

Thanks in advance guys.

Ron

best bet would be a small netgear or linksys cable/dsl router. will share
the broadband and provide some minimal network protection...

 

[Madhur Ahuja]

Hi all,

I'm trying to help a friend who has a small office network with win2k
server and 5 XP Pro clients.

An ex employee set up the server and initial network, he no longer
works there and they are in need of assistance.

I know my way around small home/office networks, having a 3 machine
XP Pro wireless network at home, but I'm at a loss with win2k and the
domain situation.

They have recently had broadband enabled and Im wanting to setup ICS
on one of the clients and let them access the net through that,
leaving the server in peace to share files. [snip]
My problem then is ...can I safely setup ICS on a client to enable the
clients to access the internet? and then can I leave the existing
internal network alone with access to the servers mapped drives?

Yes, you can do it easily. Just right click the connection on the server
computer and enable Internet Connection Sharing. On the Client computers
set their IP Address to receive them automatically and set their DNS server
and default gateway to the server computer. Also see:

http://madhur.netfirms.com/cgi-bin/articles.cgi

 

[Phillip Windell]

My problem then is ...can I safely setup ICS on a client to enable the
clients to access the internet? and then can I leave the existing internal
network alone with access to the servers mapped drives?

Yes, and keeping the server out of the "internet sharing" is very good,
particulary if it is a Domain Controller,...multihomed Domain Controller can
be a real bad deal. Even worse it is probably also the Domain Master Browser
which makes being multihomed even worse. See the following articles:

272294 - Active Directory Communication Fails on Multihomed Domain
Controllers
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;272294

191611 - Symptoms of Multihomed Browsers
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;191611

But there are considerations if this is a Domain. For the domain to behave
properly all the clients must use the Domain Controller as their DNS Sever
and not the ISP's DNS. The Domain Controller must use itself for the DNS
and not the ISP'd DNS. The ISP's DNS must simply be listed in the Domain
Controller's DNS Config as a "forwarder" in the "Forwarder List".

You could also use a hardware broadband NAT Device instead of one of the
workstations, but you would probably want to disable the NAT functions on it
because it would probably try to force the Clients to use the NAT Device or
the ISP's DNS as the Client's DNS which would screw up the Active Directory
Domain Resolution.

See the following article (it's the same for Server2003). The section called
"To Configure Forwarders" is the key section, all the rest is usually
already fine by default and you can just play it safe and stay away from it.

How to: Configure DNS for Internet Access In Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;300202