problem mapping pc's to server

[leozero]

added a server only for filesharing to an existing network. the network uses dhcp. the server has a fixed ip (166.80.57.20) and dns suffix of (166.80.57.10) just to give an example. some computers get assigned by dhcp with same dns as server and same range of ip (166.80.57.xxx)

and some get a different ip and dns, like (166.10.34.111) dns (166.10.34.10).

when i map the pc's that have been assigned with the same ip range and dns as the fixed ip for the file server, everything runs smoothly. but when i try to map the pc's with different ip's and dns like 166.10.34.111 the pc's say cannot find the server. do i need to change some of the security settings or setup of the server? or do i need to do something completely different?

 

[monsterjta]

Check your subnet mask.

 

[leozero]

subnet for the static ip on file server is 255.255.0.0 but for the dhcp when i do a ipconfig /all on the client computers its 255.255.255.0

 

[monsterjta]

That's your problem, your on a different network. Either change the mask on your server to 255.255.255.0, or change the dhcp scope to issue 255.255.0.0 mask to it's clients.

Good Luck!

 

[TheLad]

And check the default gateway on the server too. You have to have this set otherwise the server cannot communicate outside the subnet it is connected to.

-----------------------------------------------------
"It's true, its damn true!"
-----------------------------------------------------

 

[leozero]

ok, dns and subnets are all the same. the only different thing is the default gateway. those vary, on the file server its 166.92.187.10, and its the same for other computers connected to the network. but for other computers the default gateway is 166.92.35.10 the computers with these gateways still cant connect to the file server.

is it possible to setup the server to allow connections from that gateway or no?

 

[monsterjta]

You should have the same default gateway on the same network, which is usually going to be your firewall.

How many nodes are on this network? I'm assuming it's probably less than 20 or so??? If this is the case, I would simply use a default class C address schema.

192.168.1.1 - router
192.168.1.2 - server
192.168.1.100 thru .254 - DHCP clients
255.255.255.0 - subnet mask
192.168.1.1 - gateway
192.168.1.2 - primary DNS
(no secondary DNS unless you have another DNS server)

DNS forwarding should be setup on the DNS server, pointed towards your ISP DNS server.

You router/firewall will be your gateway to the internet. This will have at least 2 ports, depending on what you're using. Now, the inside port of this router/firewall should be connected to a switch and all of your devices should branch off of that (common star topology).

Inside port configuration:

192.168.1.1
255.255.255.0
Default to outside interface

Outside port configuration will be whatever parameters your ISP assigned to you, whether it be static or DHCP.

Let me know how things go...

Hope This Helps,

Good Luck!

(I do what I can with what I know)

 

[leozero]

this is how its setup, were a school system. at the main office building there are servers that have the teacher's, employees login id's. and from the main office they branch out into schools which have servers located onsite also. but the department im in wanted a secure file server to keep their data and all that stuff. we werent gonna get help from the main offices IT people, lets face it, this school district sucks. but anyways, from what i can see. all the computers her in the school are setup to use dhcp, thats why im guessing there's all these different gateway ranges 166.91.187.10, 166.91.35.10.

so this file server was setup for this specific department and attached into the existing network like a regular computer, but with a fixed ip. the 166.91.187.10 gateway. the only people that need access to it are within the school, some computers that had the gateway assigned 166.91.187.10 can access the file server and it works just fine with them, but the computers that got assigned another gateway, 166.91.35.10 cant access it, when i map the drive it gives me, 'check location or spelling error'

on some i can change the ip's to give them static ips for the computers inside the school, and they can access the file server. but there are some i cant access because they were setup by the main office and those idiots put up an admin security so i cant change their network settings. and there's no way they are gonna help so thats where were stuck at.

 

[monsterjta]

That's a bad situation you're in, especially when you don't have admin credentials to make modifications. Will the main office give you these credentials???

Here's the deal...

Every physical location that you have must be pointing the the same default gateway. BUT, that's not what the problem is here. The default gateway will ONLY be used when a client machine has used all possible resorts to contact the host it's trying to contact. The problem is, you aren't even seeing the host (file server).

Ok. How many switches do you have in production at this location? What are you using for a router/firewall? How many machines do you have on this particular network?

I would like to see all IP ranges that you use for that location, as well as all subnet masks and default gateways. I also want to see what you are pointing at for a primary DNS server.

Your network appears to be small, but it's setup incorrectly. I'm sure this could be remedied very quickly if we came up with a network address block and stuck with it throughout the entire site. See my last post. This should be the way you want to setup this network.

Hope This Helps,

Good Luck!

(I do what I can with what I know)

 

[leozero]

lol, i dont even have access to that, all i got access to is some hubs in a room. all the wall connections go to a certain room that has a mounted rack with some hubs. and from there it goes to another area in the building that i dont have access to it and from there to main office on offsite location. i know it sucks.

well i do know for a fact that lets say ip ranges 166.91.187.15-166.91.187.255 from that up to range 60 is a static ips so those are free. above 61 is dhcp enabled. so i just might have to try and do static on the ones that i need to have access to fileserver.

 

[monsterjta]

Well, sorry to hear that. I wish I could help more, but with limited information and access to these system, you're going to need to get a hold of the central office and get this info and access. Otherwise, sounds like you're stuck between a rock and a firewall.

When you get this access and info, let me know if you need additional advice.

Take Care!