SBS 2003 Domain, with non-domain computers/users 1

[thevultureking]

Greetings,

I have been charged with the task of moving our workgroup to a SBS 2003 Domain. The client computers are running a mixed bag of OS's: XP Pro, Home, Media Center, and W2K. As we a small non-profit, this upgrade will happen in phases. We have a new Dell server running SBS 2003. Our router can run DHCP, if I use the SBS DHCP, will non-domain computers get an IP address from the server? We would really like to get the XP Pro and W2K machines on the server, but still have a requirement for the XP Home/Media Center computers to get on the internet and print to a networked copier.

Also, I do not have a public IP address for the server: is that only needed for Exchange (this too will be phased in later)?

Thanks for your help, the info from thread 1584-1301254 was also very helpful.

 

[LWComputingMVP]

Are you familiar with

http://www.techsoup.com?

Depending on the type of non-profit, you might want to look into them for GREAT prices on software upgrades - especially XP Pro upgrades for your Home systems.

DHCP on SBS will serve EVERYTHING. The router should not be handling DHCP. The public IP is essentially for remote access services such as the remote web workplace, sharepoint, web sites (if you want to run any from the server) and Exchange.
When you say you do not have a public IP, what do you mean? Are you sharing someone else's network? Is the router the device with the public IP? What is the IP you get when you go to

http://www.whatismyip.com

(don't post it - but that's the public address you're seeing).

For more information on SBS (since you don't see terribly familiar with it, you might want to look over my SBS links page (with a brief intro on my experiences) here:

http://www.lwcomputing.com/tips/static/sbs.asp

In addition, you should understand the proper way to setup DNS on your network - it's VITAL that you set it up properly or you could have issues connecting to your server reliably. I have a page on that too:

http://www.lwcomputing.com/tips/static/dns.asp

Lastly, and I think I mention this in one or both pages above - USE THE WIZARDS. The wizards are designed to manage SBS and make sure it's setup correctly. With rare exception, you should be using the wizards for everything you do.

And, what the heck, if you're moving to a server environment, you might want to look over my backup article - see:

http://www.lwcomputing.com/tips/static/backup.asp

 

[thevultureking]

Thanks for your help. I have reviewed your articles (found them from a previous posting) and they were very helpful. The router is the device with the public IP. I really appreciate your assistance.