Crazy Home Network wants to go Corporate Style

kanidrive

Distinguished
Apr 15, 2011
32
0
18,540
I wish I would have found this post last month when I was having issues setting up the house me and 3 others live in, this is great stuff! I am using a "double Y" rather than a "triple Y" (Router 1 LAN to Router 2 WAN) and it's working GREAT... But I'm still trying to tweak the network a bit, mostly for academic purposes though. Here is a little info about the house network I set up:

Master Router = Wireless Buffalo w/ 4-ports (Circa 2010)
Slave Router = Wireless D-Link w/ 4-ports (Circa 2005)
(I DO have a 3rd Wireless Router, but I don't need it YET)

The situation is the house has 4 bedrooms, and multiple internet capable devices in the living room (PS3, Blu-Ray Player, and a 'Community PC', all with NetFlix capabilities, and some with custom Media Server Streaming capabilities, all connected to the 42" LCD TV). The Cable Model is set up in my bedroom where I administer the network from my wired PC that multi-boots to Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit, and Linux. There are 2 other laptops in the house as well, and one other PC in the far corner of the house. I have all the PCs and Entertainment devices connected directly to the routers, my "multi-boot Server PC" (as I call it) is the only PC wired to the Master Router, all other PCs and devices are connected to the Slave Router. Both routers are wireless capable so there is an extended wireless range for the smartphones and laptops. So in summary:

Master Router (Buffalo) Wired ports are connected to:
My Server PC (Lan port 1)
My Laptop (Lan port 2) when I need to transfer files quickly, or watch Streams from NetFlix in bed
(Lan Port 3 is open)
The Slave router (D-Link) (Lan Port 4)
The wireless function of this router (Buffalo) has a MAC FILTER that I have registered all the devices I want to allow to connect to it for security.

Note: I would prefer not have to drill a new hole, crawl back up in the attic, and run more Cat 5e across the house to the the 3rd currently unused router. If we need to use the 3rd router, I intend to branch if from the Slave (D-link) Router.

Slave Router (D-Link) Wired ports are connected to:
The "Community PC" running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (Lan Port 1 - Slave Router)
PlayStation 3 (Lan Port 2 - Slave Router)
Blu-Ray Disc Player (Lan Port 3 - Slave Router)
A roommates gaming PC in the far corner of the house (Lan Port 4 - needs more speed/reliability than wireless)

Note: The "Community PC" that serves as a Media Center for when someone wants to watch the newest "EpicMealTime" video on YouTube, or listing to Pandora on the surround sound. It's also much faster to switch between movies and applications than the Playstation or the Blu-Ray, but we have the the only HDMI port connected to the Blu-Ray for watching movies in Hi-Def. All these devices are connected to a router in the living room by a Cat5e cable about 120 feet long, connected to Port 4 of the Master Router (Buffalo).

Wireless Devices in the house:
Lenovo IdeaPad Laptop circa 2010
IBM ThinkPad Laptop circa 2002
PlayStation 3 (has wireless capabilities, but is now connected to Slave Router due of skipping movie streams)
BlackBerry Curve 9330
BlackBerry Curve 8xxx
and of course, random people coming over with cell phones and laptops


What I would like to do, is create a domain network through the Windows Server 2008 RC Operating System on the "Master PC" in my room. I am an aspiring IT Professional and I could use the experience. I want all the users in the house to be able to log into the Community PC with their own login information, and each have their own profile like an office or college does. I also intend to host a file server (probably FTP) to compliment the device driver website I run. The larger files drain my allowable file space and bandwidth, so I want to be able to store the larger files on my home server. I intentionally have port 3 open on the Master Router so I can build another PC for server files to the web if the site continues to gain popularity. I have DNS setup for a sub-domain of the sites domain (home.my-domain-name-goes-here.com).

FINALLY, Here is the problems I am having:
I want all the users of all the computers connected to ALL the routers to be able to swap files, as well as use login/password information for any machine on the network.

I have DNS setup through DynDNS.org that points the sub-domain to my home network, and I have access to the IIS server from any computer connected to my Master Router, but not from the Slave Router, or the internet. I have successfully set up the domain network on the Windows Server 2008 R2 PC (Master PC), but no other PCs in the network can access the IIS server, and there is no internet access to the server either.

When I attempt to connect to the Domain network (home.domain-name-goes-here.com) from any computer connected to the Slave Router, I am unable to do so. Either Windows cannot find the domain network, or the option to connect to a network is dimmed. I set up users on the Windows 2008 Server, and every user has their password setup in the Users Lists.

So now I ask these questions to those who what the hell they are doing (apparently not me):
#1) How can I make the IIS Server available to the outside world (online)?
#2) How can I create a connection to the Windows Server 2008 R2 "Master PC" to all the machines and devices on the network, accept for those that are NOT explicitly allowed (Configured Users)
#3) How can I do the above without limiting any of the features the network currently enjoys?

If I need to, I was considering using a LAN to LAN connection from the Master to the Slave Router, and use the 3rd Router so we can keep all of our hard wired computers properly connected. We could then put the PS3 and Blu-Ray, on the 3rd router with a different subnet (192.168."+1".x) because there is no need to access the devices remotely or internally, but I am almost certain there is a way to use what we already have set up to make these things happen.
 

kanidrive

Distinguished
Apr 15, 2011
32
0
18,540
If I have to be in the same IP range to authenticate, then how are multi-site domain networks accomplished? Isn't it possible to have a domain network at multiple geographic locations? Surely there must be a way.
 

TRENDING THREADS