Whats the best DHCP Server For this LAN?

[TechFlunky]

Hi,

Ive got a client who has network performance issues which we think are related to using windows server 2003 as web server / mailserver / dns server, router (internet sharing) and DHCP server. Idea goes to replace the DNS, DHCP & routing functions with a hardware router but Im not sure which is the best to use.

Would prefer to keep the web servers external IP rather than using NAT.

Network has 2 servers, the webserver and 1 data server. There are approx 50 nodes also on the network. A mix of PCs, printers and other devices.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[lhuegele]

You didn't mention what type of internet connection there is or what firewall if any is in use. To have a server connected directly to the internet, to me, sounds like your network performance issues could also be related to spyware.

With 50+ nodes, I would definately get an SPI firewall and let it do your internet routing. You can configure it to translate an external IP for your web server with no problem. Depending on how beefy your server is, it might be just fine to keep all the other functions on the one box for only 50 nodes. I would start with the firewall/router and see if that helps before moving those other functions to a new server.

Good luck,