Stormin_Norm

The DSL router should act as a bridge (go to their website to find directions or call them), then use their red cable to connect to the linksys router. Configure the linksys router with the correct dsl modem settings...you may have to contact linksys for this. When a friend had issues...I started with Sprint/Earthlink help desk, then they handed me off to an earthlink helpdesk. In the end..two hours on hold between both call centers.

Also-- outlook bcm is consistently giving an SPSI error message, which SQL msde kb article says may be dns related. I wound up adding server1 to the pc's hosts file to ensure it resolves to 192.168.1.2 consistently. because I noticed when I ran a tracert the results "ping ponged" results for server1 i.e. > tracert server1 Tracing route to server1 [192.168.1.2] ....etc... > tracert server1 Tracing route to server1 [192.168.1.2] ....etc... > tracert server1 Tracing route to server1 [192.168.1.74] ....etc...

Excellent, the pc is now looking at the correct server for dns. But I noticed when I ran a tracert to the server it resolved to the vpn IP, not the server's "base" IP. server IP: 192.168.1.2 vpn IP: 192.168.1.74

Several months ago our small biz moved from dynamic DSL to Static DSL. The router was replaced. Now I noticed several pc's using the router DNS vs. the Server's DNS. Should I turn this off? I'm wondering if this is the cause of an SPSI error w/ SQL MSDE (Outlook BCM). Thanks!!

I'm trying to troubleshoot some pc problems in our 10 pc + 1 server network. If a PC is configured with dns in this order, the pc can not see/ping the www.corpxyz.com server. primary: 192.168.1.2 secondary: 207.217.126.81 however, if the pc's dns configured in the reverse order, the ping/lookup will NOT work: primary: 207.217.126.81 secondary: 192.168.1.2 I prefer only using our server address or keep it first, so that all pc's will resolve locally first before going to the ISP's DNS server. I even tried adding the 207 ISP address to the servers DNS lookup, but no luck. What else can I check/try??

I found the problem with our network. The dsl router was also pre-configured for DNS, but with a host id of 0.0.0.0 This is why our internal pc's couldn't find the external website. And why some took forever to login. I didn't turn the router dns off, just added our server & ISP's IPs and made the starting address high. Just curious which pc's will resolve w/ the router and which will stay with the server. But I'm still confused why half the pc's are listed in the forward & reverse lookup zones and half are not. Why would someone put them in there in the first place? I see no reason to have some of the pc's defined as forward & reverse lookups. It is only one office with 10 pcs. One Server, One Zone. Maybe the original thinking was to be able to share folders or a printer. But that would be handled by dhcp & dns working together anyway.

Thanks everyone for the quick response. I'm hooked on these forums! When would a PC be automatically added as a forward? never I would think, unless I explicitly enter it. Why even bother putting a pc in a forward lookup zone on a small network of 10 pcs? Everyone shares files on the server and perhaps would connect to only a print server on an admin desk. And in that case, are you really using a forward to locate that admin pc/printer? Or are you defaulted into using WINS then? Am I wrong in thinking a DNS forward & reverse list should be VERY small with only the DC server in there as the first entry and then the two ISP's DNS servers. yes/no?

I appreciate your fast response! Thanks for the quick overview and book tip. I will head to the store today. Yes it is a one server network. Yes we are now running DHCP. Before, half the pc's were hard coded and half were not. I believe the problem is that Earthlink's DNS servers are not being utilized in our DNS. Would I only add them as a forward lookup or is there somewhere else I need them defined? How many should I use?? I would assume it is best to use the TWO from the ISP (earthlink) and perhaps one from another service. Can I assume the order of the dns forwards will be how they resolve a host? In other words, I would enter the earthlink DNS server name and number, then perhaps a fallback server name and numer.

So in a basic network of one server and a few pc's, what would the forward zone look like? I'm seeing our Server defined on top (Name Server entry), then a couple of the pc's in there, and finally the server again in 2x (192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.13). I imagine the second one is for VPN setup. I also noticed in the reverse lookup, there were two ip's duplicated. This was automatic when the laptop changed computer names I assume. And I noticed another entry when a local laptop joined. So are computers auto-added to the reverse lookup when they join the domain?? Do we really need them in here? When would we ever need to reverse-lookup a pc within our office??

I believe the current network I inherited is configured incorrectly. I have two XP pc's taking FOREVER to logon. I think it is a DNS issue. I need help to reconfigure this. The corporate website is hosted by earthlink. Lets call it www.corpxyz.com The internal corporate Win2000 server is server.corpxyz.com (192.168.1.2) with 1 network card. There is a vpn connection/port open for vpn.corpxyz.com which forwards to server.corpxyz.com Every PC on the LAN has DNS resolution statically defined as an earthlink DNS (e.g. 207.217.126.81 & 82) The reason every pc is configured this way is to allow the users to view the corporate website www.corpxyz.com. IF a pc is set up as dynamic DNS resolution, then the user can NOT view the corporate website. If the pc's are reset to dynamic- what do I need to change on the server to allow them to see the corporate website? Is it a forward lookup? And what do I have to setup/check to ensure the server's dns looks up the correct IP for the corporate website on a daily basis? What should the TCP/IP DNS settings be for the LAN card on the server? Dynamic (looks at itself?) or keep it the Static earthlink DNS entry (207.217.126.81)?? Also--- If we move to Win2003 server, would you migrate the existing AD? Or would you recreate the LAN as corpxyz.local Thanks networking pros!!