Multiple Web Servers Structure Problem

[JabbaTheNut]

Here is the pertinent layout of my Win 2K network:

Server1 (WAN 207.68.132.98 / LAN 192.168.0.1)
Server2 (LAN 192.168.0.2)

Server1 has two NIC cards (one for the public WAN and one for the private LAN). Among other things, this machine has Active Directory, DNS, RRAS with NAT enabled and IIS 5.0. (it is intended to house a demo web server).

Server2 has one NIC card for the private LAN and has IIS 5.0 (it is intended to house the primary web server).

As mentioned above, Server1 has the demo web server (demo.mysite.com) and Server2 has the primary web server (

http://www.mysite.com).

My DNS is set up as follows:

server1 Host 192.168.0.1 (private IP)
server1 Host 207.68.132.98 (public IP)
demo Host 207.68.132.98 (public IP)
server2 Host 192.168.0.2 (private IP)
www Host 192.168.0.2 (private IP)

I have stopped the "Default Web Site" on Server1 and have added a new web site called "Demo Web Site" which is pointing to a shared directory called "demo". In the root of this shared directory, I have a simple html document called "default.htm". In the properties of "Demo Web Site", I have identified the IP address to be 207.68.132.98.
Additionally, default.htm is identified as one of the possible default documents and the host header is set to "demo".

I am using the "Default Web Site" in IIS 5.0 for Server2. In the properties of the web site I have identified the IP address to be 192.168.0.2 and the host header is set to "

http://www".

Here is the problem...

When a user enters

http://www.mysite.com,

they are properly sent to

http://www.mysite.com,

the primary web site on Server2 (no problems here). However, when a user enters

http://demo.mysite.com,

they receive the IIS 5.0 error 404 page "The page cannot be found". What am I missing? Why is the user not getting my default.htm page for demo.mysite.com?

Please Help :{ Game Over, Man!

 

[brontosaurus]

If you enter the IP address directly in your browser, does the site come up?

 

[JabbaTheNut]

No. I get the same IIS 5.0 error 404 page "The page cannot be found". Game Over, Man!

 

[JabbaTheNut]

Please note that when I type in the IP address for Server2 (192.168.0.2), that site comes up just fine. Game Over, Man!

 

[brontosaurus]

Can you ping the demo IP address from the workstation? IF not, then it's likely a routing issue. The internal NIC of your server is not forwarding to the external NIC. Check your RRAS settings....

 

[JabbaTheNut]

Yes, I can ping the IP address for demo.mysite.com (207.68.132.98) from a workstation. I also pinged all private and public IPs as well as the gateway and some outside IP addresses from the workstation just to be sure and they all worked fine. Game Over, Man!

 

[brontosaurus]

OK. Then it's time to look at IIS. Did you create a new Virtual directory for this site?

 

[JabbaTheNut]

This is the process I followed to set up the new site:

1. Create directory at c:\inetpub\demo. In the properties under tab "Sharing", select "Share this folder" and identify the share name as "demo".

2. Stop the "Default Web Site" by right clicking on the website in the IIS Management Console and selecting "Stop"

3. Create the new website by selecting Action/New/Web Site in the IIS Console. Set the description to "My Demo Site". Change the IP address from (All Unassigned) to 207.68.132.98 and set host header to "demo". Identify the path as c:\inetpub\demo and allow anonymous access.

4. Create a default page called "default.htm" and save to c:\inetpub\demo\default.htm.

5. Make sure that default.htm is among the identified default documents for the web site.

One thing I should note...

I noticed that in the "Web Sharing" tab of the properties for the c:\inetpub\demo directory, the "Do not share this folder" option is selected and the "Share on" drop down box has "Default Web Site" selected. I tried selecting the "Share this folder" option and changing the "Share on" drop down box to "My Demo Site" (among the available selections). However, when I select "OK" and close out and go back in to confirm that the changes were made, I find that the "Web Sharing" tab has reverted back to its original settings. It won't let me change it.
Game Over, Man!

 

[brontosaurus]

couple of things...you didn't mention it, but did you restart the "Default Web Site"?

the Web sharing thing is not an issue...

If that doesn't help, try letting the server answer on your internal IP just as a test...

 

[brontosaurus]

You know Jabba, I didn't even see your extra post where you mentioned that you ARE able to get to the DEMO site by putting the internal IP address in the browser...have you tried to access the site from outside your LAN?

 

[brontosaurus]

Another thing...make sure in your RRAS configuration that you're allowing connectivity via port 80 (or whatever port you're using for the site) when routing from the internal to the public IP.

 

[JabbaTheNut]

I tried restarting the Default Web Site. However, all calls to demo.mysite.com were getting trapped by the Default site (I was getting the default page of the Default Web Site).

I tried pinging demo.mysite.com as well as the IP address from a workstation and was successful on each of the pings. However, I was still getting the error 404 page.

I also tried setting the Demo site to listen on the private IP. However, I was still getting the error 404 page.

What is interesting to me is that when I delete the Demo website and the corresponding directory and then try to call demo.mysite.com I get a "cannot find demo.mysite.com" message indicating that the site does not exist (as one would expect). This tells me that when I set up the Demo site (with the Default Site stopped), something in IIS 5.0 is being found and is providing the error 404 page. What??? I don't know. Game Over, Man!

 

[brontosaurus]

Generally that error message comes up when the DEFAULT.HTM page can't be found in the site's root directory. But, at least from what you've described to me, it looks like you did the "host Headers" thing properly...we must be missing something....

 

[JabbaTheNut]

I am suprised that I am having difficulty. I understand that one can host several websites in IIS 5.0 (i.e.

http://www.mysite.com,

http://www.hersite.net,

etc.). What I am trying to accomplish is simply a variation on that theme. I thought I did the setup properly. Is there a good step-by-step source that can walk me through the process of hosting multiple websites in IIS 5.0? This type of walkthrough may expose my error. Game Over, Man!

 

[brontosaurus]

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q308163&

 

[JabbaTheNut]

Problem Solved!

I did everything as mentioned above with the following exceptions:

1. I used a host header name of "demo.mysite.com" instead of just "demo".

2. I moved the directory to a new location (outside of inetpub). I used c:\mysite\demo instead of c:\inetpub\demo.

The first item didn't seem to correct the problem. However, after I implemented the second item, it worked like a charm. Strange, but true.

Thanks for all your help Brontosaurus! Most people would not have stuck with it as long.

Game Over, Man!

 

[brontosaurus]

Excellent. See, many times it is the simple things we overlook...