Topic: General Config?

[Agent86]

Hi all

I upgraded my cable internet to commercial with static IP

They gave me this cable modem which is also a router

Now I'm not sure how or where to plug in SME as a gateway/server ?

Since all the ports on the router are actually the cable modem also, then it appears I can't use this type of config as a gateway. I need another switch or something to hook my local network computers to, before the SME box then to the new cable modem router ????

???
Please advise

[jfarschman]

Agent86,

   It seems like your old configuration supplied an outside IP address directly to your SME server and the new architecture gives you an inside (RFC 1918) private address.  Right?

  Well... you can either configure your router differently, or you can set it up this way.

Internet------(outsideIP)ROUTER(192.168.1.1)-----(192.168.1.2)SME(10.1.1.1)

Then you LAN will run on 10.1.1.x addresses.  Does this solve the problem?

[Agent86]

I'll try that thanks

I'm not sure I understand completely?

So both of my eth0 and eth1 on the SME will plug into the cable router ?

Or will I only use one NIC now ?

I'm not sure I understand how the physical connections are suppose to work, cause the cable router/modem has all the connections and I believe they are all local connections and the actual interface from a lan connection to the cable internet is done internally inside the cable modem router

When I had the residential service before, the cable modem had the cable coming in with one interface to connect to internals in which you could either use one computer, or a router or a gateway and router etc.

But now with this all in one cable router I"m not sure how to physically connect as a gateway should I settup a lan to a seperate router/switch, and then from ther the SME gateway and then to the all in one cable router to access the web, or do I need the internal router/switch

I"m confusing myself.

Please advise

And thanks for the help again.

So I'm sort of confused on how to setup as a gateway, will I want to use a second switch/router or how do I get the LAN to pass thru the gateway and then to the cable modem router while being plugged into the local cable/router.

I hope I'm being clear it's difficult to express without diagram of the connections

I mean I can't just say

local computers and SME ----all in one cable modem

cause the SME box has NIC cards so that does not really represent what I would like?

Would it be advised to use the second router, or to plug all computer including the SME gateway into the all in one router ?

Thats really the main question, and I'll apply your address settings to which every config it fits ??

Thanks

[jfarschman]

Agent86,

  Put them all in series... like the diagram I made.

Internet----cableModem---SME---hub---all pcs

This makes couple of logical networks.  One is handled by your cable provider.  They dynamically assign your IP...

Then between the SME and the cable modem make another network.  There's really nothing on this network except the SME server...

Then since the SME has two Ethernet cards... use the inside card for the LAN... plug the SME into your HUB.

##############
Or quit using your SME as a gateway... but I can tell you the SME has some very compelling reason why it should remain in the path to the Internet as outlined above...  it adds some value and doesn't seem to sloe things down.

[Agent86]

I see thanks

HUB right I missed that for some reason, Well, I was using my other router before sort of as my hub etc.

Anyhow I think for now I will ditch the gateway only for temporary.

I will change my config to simply plug the SME box into the Cable router for server and mail server etc. I've fowarded the ports to the SME box and appear to have my (underconstructions page) but for some reason I cannot access the (server-manager)

I'll mess with it some more in the morning and post the results thanks again for all the help this has been helpful

[jfarschman]

Agent,

  You cannot connect now because you are on the outside network... that's my guess.  Reconfigure the SME to be server-only and see if it works for you.

[Agent86]

Thanks

It's working now I've had to port foward in the (all in one cable modem/router) and double checked to be sure the DHCP server is turned off in the SME box
Now people on the net can access my site.

I can access my server-manager, but only thru the local lan address, the internal DNS does not seem to be working properly or is being blocked or something.
I can only access using the 10.1.10.???/webmail or 10.1.10.???/server-manager etc.

Please advise further on this topic

And Big Thanks again

[jfarschman]

Agent,

  Okay... glad it's mostly working.  DNS is the last problem and that's probably because your modem is doing DHCP and serving up itself as the DNS server... then it's pretty much ignorant about your internal domain.  

Use the SME server for DNS.  That's probably the problem.

ipconfig /all

What does it say?

[Agent86]

So when you say (Use the SME server for DNS. That's probably the problem. )
I should disable the routers DHCP server, and enable the SME DHCP server and that should do it ?

Some backround talks with comcast.
I recently was told by comcast to assign my static IP address to the server, but then I was wondering how I would be able to also share files,folder and printers this way.? Would this still work as it did normally?

I don't think I would be able to access the webserver locally anymore when configured this way ??? would I ?

[MSmith]

You might also be able to set your new cablemodem/router to operate in bridged mode, so your SME Server's external interface would once again have your static IP.

[Agent86]

Thanks for all the answers I do really appreciate the time I cannot say this enough to those who have been very helpful

Here is where I'm at with this now:
When enabling the DHCP server in the SME box, and disabling the routers DHCP no-one can access my website or any function of the server from the outside internet. And note I've used the port foward function on the router, with no effect.

Now I've changed things back with the static IP addres asigned to the SME server, and enabled the DHCP server in the router once again
since the static IP is routable then no need for forwarding etc.

Conclusion
Everyone can now see the website and webmail etc. but the DNS part is also back to not working with internal domains, and only works with addresses such as 10.1.10.??? etc.

That not really to bad of a problem I can deal with that, but I cannot access the server-manager this way.

I do not fully understand the bridge topic and do not believe my router modem has this function?

I'm beginning to think I need to go back to using SME as gateway/server to do what I desire? What do you think ?


Please advise
Thanks

[MSmith]

In bridged mode, the router acts like a dumb old cablemodem.  Yours may or may not have this capability; have you Googled for more elaborate documentation on your specific model?  Your cable company will most likely not tell you that you can do this, much less do it for you.  But if you can get that working, the SME Server goes back to full capability in server-gateway mode.

[Agent86]

Thanks for the tip

After thinking on this subject some more, I've concluded on a few things, which I could be wrong about, but this is what I've concluded

If I plug the SME server into my all in one cable/modem/router, and assign my static IP to the server, then I have no firewall for my local network
If I enable the firewall in the all in one cable/modem/router then I have to enable the DHCP server of the router otherwise the firewall does not work.

So I've choosen what appears to be more logical for my use, installed second NIC and went back to the gateway concept.


New hardware config:
Pluged the SME box eth1(external)NIC-to the all in one cable/modem router, and turned off the firewall and dhcp server in the router

Then pluged the SME box eth0(internal)NIC-to another router(standard port not uplink port) then from this router to the local nework computers(and made sure that this routers DHCP server and firewall are also turned off.

This is now setup as SME (public) gateway/server mode

Additionally the SME eth1(external)NIC is assigned my static IP address given to me by my ISP by using the console of the SME box under Local Network parameters I entered the static IP here(Local Network Parameters)

Then Local subnet mask given to me by ISP under (Local subnet mask for this server)

Then gateway IP given by ISP

Then internal eth0 setup DHCP server (ON) to provide IP addresses to the internal network

And now all is working perfectly as it should

I can access server-manager, the website works, the webmail works etc.

I do thank everyone for the help and I feel bad that I could not seem to get it working properly as a server only mode, but it appeared to have more obsticals then I initially anticipated. Or more likley that I just do not have the experience thus far to get it working as it should

Thanks again and hip hip hurray to the Contrib.org community

Another successful SME Server up and running!!

And a few referals that want their own webserver and webmail like mine