Too good to be true...networking and Win2K3

So I thought I had my network migration plan all set...just drop in a couple of new NICs, as Brian Desmond suggested in the comments for my last T1 post, and I should be good to go, right? Well, almost. The web server, which is running Windows 2000 Server, was no problem. Already had another NIC in the box, just enable it, run the cable, and it's good to go. My mail server, alas, is running Windows Server 2003, which doesn't like my Netgear FA310TX 10/100 nics very well. It's possible to make them run, but the result is lots of socket errors with my mail program.

So I'll need to run out tomorrow and pick up a couple of new NICs. I've got my eye on the D-Link DFE-530TX+ but of course, as with most widely-available NICs, it's not Windows Server 2003 certified (but at least it's not on the not supported list). So if any of you are reading this on a holiday weekend, and are running Windows Server 2003 with a 10/100 NIC from D-Link, Netgear, Belkin, etc., I'd love to hear from you.

Also, shown below is a rough sketch of the network configuration I've set up. The DSL and Wireless routers are both set up to run NAT, while the T1 router is running wide open, with only the Wireless router connected. The T1 router serves up public IPs via DHCP, and I've configured it to reserve a specific public IP for the Wireless router. I then added that public IP to the DNS records for all of the domains I'm hosting. So far as I can tell, this seems to work (apart from the flaky NICs). If you're a network guru, and you see something that doesn't make sense, please let me know. It's been a long time since I passed my networking essentials cert.    ;-)

UPDATE: I did not explain the diagram below adequately. The wireless router also has a 10/100 switch built-in, which is what the servers are connected to. They are not connecting via wireless. I also have both MAC filtering and 128-bit WEP set up on the wireless router. Yes, I know that's still not 100% secure, but for the sake of simplified configuration (nice web-based setup vs. nasty unintuitive telnet-based), I'm willing to take the risk.

Note also that the DSL router will be going away as soon as the DNS for the T1 address has propagated.

9 Comments

  • Yeah, I do see a bit of a problem. Why do you have your web & mail servers using a wireless card to get on the T1?



    That T1 router may very well allow you to setup firewall rules on it. Buy a switch (not a hub) and connect everything to the switch & then wire the switch to the t1 router. You'll probably have to try out your console cable & hyperterminal to configure it, unless it has some sort of web interface. It's also possible that all the router does is route & it can't filter traffic or anything.



    Netgear NICs have an annoying habit of not working. I'd find a 3Com or Intel NIC. Never had a problem with either.

  • Have you also confirmed that the servers are all answering to the new IPs for all services?



    Telnet each service by IP. So, to test that SMTP is answering on the new ip, telnet 123.123.123.123 25.



    If something comes up, you're good to go.

  • a microsoft nic will work on win server 03 i think its the m130 card

  • sorry about the link, my apache hates me this week... anywho, you can use a Netgear FA310TX nic on windows server 2003, the problem isn't the OS, it's in the *.INF files that come with the card, or via download, they are NOT set correctly for this version of windows, you can however install the nick in a windows XP machine and then copy the driver and INF files to a floppy disk (only two files)



    FILES:

    net21x4.inf

    ngrpci.sys



    I burned the entire WinXP \windows\inf\ directory to a CD and let Windows Server 2003 hardware wizard search it. It found a matching file. Then it needed ngrpci.sys but it couldn't get it from i386\driver.cab (any Windows version) so I extracted it manually.



    (Actually, when I had ngrpci.sys on floppy the driver guide said it could not find the path specified. When copied to C: it finally worked.)



    I'm using ngrpci.sys:



    Version: 4.56.16.10

    Desc: NDIS 5.0 miniport driver

    Internal name, and original name: Fa310nd5.sys

    Size: 32840 bytes



  • andrew, you are going to laugh. I am going through hell today with my win2003 server install and it's because of my netgear card and google led me right to your post! One of the few things that made me smile today! (you don't have the damned ngrpci.sys file do you?????)

  • I wanted to add my $.02 here - this post saved me from buying a new NIC - my Netgear FA310TX worked under XP Pro but not Server 2003 - now it works!



    Thanks!

  • Wow! I never thought so many others have netgear 310tx adapters and than to have my problem! I thank you all, and God bless.


  • Whoops. Also struggling to get my Netgear FA310TX Fast Ethernet PCI Adapter to work with my Windows 2003 play server. It was very happy under Windows 2000 server.



    Followed the XP procedure above but still getting a BS "the syle of the inf is different than what was requested" (sic) error.



    Is there some way to tweak the inf file to resolve this?



    It is annoying that perfectly good hardware suddenly can't be used. Not very "Green" of Microsoft / Netgear!



  • This seems to have worked for me, anyway. ,

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