bankrboy30
IS-IT--Management
I should start by saying the I am an extreme novice and while I have installed and secured many home networks, this was my first server based commercial install.
Basically this was for my Uncle's office, their original server crashed and they didn't care for their old IT guy so I got the call.
We got all new DELL's including the server and we only have about 5 Users and about 6 printers (one of them a wide format printer as they are a commercial contracting corp and deal with a lot of blueprints) and a fax is on the network as well.
All went well with the initial installation - on day one I was able to get everyone on the network with their e-mail and internet access working -- got all the printers up and running as well as the fax, installed all third party apps etc etc. They were pretty impressed as the original team of professionals has taken nearly a week to get this far and were never able to get the wideline printer on the network or get the fax working off the network either. I was pretty impressed with myself as well being that I had never attempted anything like this before, however I'm smart enough to know that most of this is attributable to hardware / software improvements which made me look good.
My problem now is that there are two power users who would like VPN access. I ran the Routing and RAS setup and configured the client computers to achieve this and tested them from remote locations. Everything went well and I had access to e-mail, applications, shared drives etc. However on the flip side this took down internet access for everyone else in the office.
I was able to reverse everything so that the office is back up and running, however I still need to go ahead and deal with their VPN requests.
Firstly I am not sure how to determine what is providing DHCP (there is the server, two NICS - one to the Modem a CISCO piece(they use a service here on Long Island called XO - I believe it is a fractionalised T1) and the other to a NETGEAR switch. There is also a Linksys wireless piece for the CEO's laptop all of which could be running DHCP...I know how to turn it off in the LINKSYS piece as I use the same one at home however I have no idea how to access the netgear or cisco pieces.
I have been going through my log files on the server and there is one recurring DNS issue where it detects a packet sent to itself over and over again all day everyday...so that is a problem even before I delve into the VPN taking down the internet issue. Also I get download speeds from the internet of only about 15kbps. I know our connection is rather small (I believe we only pay for a 128kbps pipeline) however I still have the feeling something is wrong in that arena, ie. I am probably only using a fraction of the bandwith allocated to me because everything is running through only one segment of the modem/router...do I have to turn off DHCP and assign all of my client computers one of the static IP's from the ISP or can the server divy up the bandwith??
I know this is alot of info...and clearly I am at a loss in terms of next steps...since nearly everything was initially achieved during the server setup via wizards I really do not have a firm grip on what is happening.
If someone could help walk me through some basic stuff I am confident I'll figure it out (I can be a very determined little sucker) but I'm not sure where to begin at this stage. There has got to be some command line stuff I can do to get a grip on where I'm at with my actual setup so that I can take it to the next level. Any help is greatly appreciated. Links are always helpful.
Many thanks in advance.
--J
Basically this was for my Uncle's office, their original server crashed and they didn't care for their old IT guy so I got the call.
We got all new DELL's including the server and we only have about 5 Users and about 6 printers (one of them a wide format printer as they are a commercial contracting corp and deal with a lot of blueprints) and a fax is on the network as well.
All went well with the initial installation - on day one I was able to get everyone on the network with their e-mail and internet access working -- got all the printers up and running as well as the fax, installed all third party apps etc etc. They were pretty impressed as the original team of professionals has taken nearly a week to get this far and were never able to get the wideline printer on the network or get the fax working off the network either. I was pretty impressed with myself as well being that I had never attempted anything like this before, however I'm smart enough to know that most of this is attributable to hardware / software improvements which made me look good.
My problem now is that there are two power users who would like VPN access. I ran the Routing and RAS setup and configured the client computers to achieve this and tested them from remote locations. Everything went well and I had access to e-mail, applications, shared drives etc. However on the flip side this took down internet access for everyone else in the office.
I was able to reverse everything so that the office is back up and running, however I still need to go ahead and deal with their VPN requests.
Firstly I am not sure how to determine what is providing DHCP (there is the server, two NICS - one to the Modem a CISCO piece(they use a service here on Long Island called XO - I believe it is a fractionalised T1) and the other to a NETGEAR switch. There is also a Linksys wireless piece for the CEO's laptop all of which could be running DHCP...I know how to turn it off in the LINKSYS piece as I use the same one at home however I have no idea how to access the netgear or cisco pieces.
I have been going through my log files on the server and there is one recurring DNS issue where it detects a packet sent to itself over and over again all day everyday...so that is a problem even before I delve into the VPN taking down the internet issue. Also I get download speeds from the internet of only about 15kbps. I know our connection is rather small (I believe we only pay for a 128kbps pipeline) however I still have the feeling something is wrong in that arena, ie. I am probably only using a fraction of the bandwith allocated to me because everything is running through only one segment of the modem/router...do I have to turn off DHCP and assign all of my client computers one of the static IP's from the ISP or can the server divy up the bandwith??
I know this is alot of info...and clearly I am at a loss in terms of next steps...since nearly everything was initially achieved during the server setup via wizards I really do not have a firm grip on what is happening.
If someone could help walk me through some basic stuff I am confident I'll figure it out (I can be a very determined little sucker) but I'm not sure where to begin at this stage. There has got to be some command line stuff I can do to get a grip on where I'm at with my actual setup so that I can take it to the next level. Any help is greatly appreciated. Links are always helpful.
Many thanks in advance.
--J
