Using Windows Server 2008 R2 as a router

active-directorydhcp-serverdomain-name-systemwindows-server-2008-r2

I have setup a new box with the following:

Hardware – Dell 990, Core i5 CPU, 4GB RAM, 500GB hard disk, 2 NICs

NIC1 – Connected with D-Link gigabit switch – 30 Users

NIC2 – Connected with ADSL Modem/Router

OS – Windows Server 2008 R2

Roles – ADDS, DNS, DHCP

Below are the requirements:

  • Users will get their IP address, subnet mask, DNS server IP and
    default gateway from the server.
  • Users will be using internet through this server.

How can this be achieved?

Best Answer

Well it is pretty much easy in windows 2008 if you install Routing and Remote Access server role. Go to Server Manager -> Add Roles -> And select Routing and Remote Access. Then from the console you can enable and configure routing.

From what you describe on your question you will need to set up your NIC2 as the interface pointing to the internet and you may want to enable NAT for addressing private range of IP Addresses for your internal network.

You can view more info on your problem on this links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpt2z3LA0dQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-2ukRx-CLQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86ShIoFWuwY

For the distribution of the IP Addresses you will have to install and configure the DHCP Server Role. The DNS Server role will be required for the name resolution on your network, although i think that if you are not planning to make the server Domain Controller it is better to use some other public DNS Servers like the servers on Google (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4)