Can I plug a HD200 directly into my server?

[sdsean]

I have never had a server setup with windows where provides a gateway and what not, but my server machine running Windows 7 Ultimate has 2 ethernet ports.

Can I just plug in an HD200 network port directly into the PC and it will just work. . . or are there a whole bunch of hoops that I need to jump through?

The reason i ask is that I'm starting to grow tired of the windows client just not acting like it should (mostly around blu-ray playback), and i was thinking about just using extenders all the time. . . but I have my server in the living room already. . .

[aflat]

You won't be able to plug it right in, since your machine won't act like a switch/router out of the box, and your HD200 still needs to get an IP.If you have a windows box, and it's not WHS(since I don't know enough about WHS, but it may work the same) google for "Internet Connection Sharing" It's fairly trivial.

[CollinR]

You can bridge your net connections and do it without intetnet connection sharing.

[UgaData]

You will need an Ethernet cross-over cable for the physical connection.

That alone may work if automatic addressing works, if it doesn't work then you will need to enter static IP addresses in the HD200 and the NIC on the PC (in the case of the PC, only on the NIC your plugging the HD200 into).

[UgaData]

Of course you could also get a cheap (I'm thinking old and used) router/switch w/DHCP.

If all you had was an old switch/hub that could be used as well but you still need to deal with the IP addressing.

[Fuzzy]

If you've already got a router providing DHCP on the other network connection, all you have to do is 'bridge' the two networks in win7. This will let the server pass any traffic on one network, to the other, making the computer act like a simple switch, and basically making both sides a single network. DHCP will still be handled by the router side.

(From the Network and Sharing Wizard, select Change Adapter Settings. Then, select BOTH networks, right click, and choose 'Bridge Connections'). They will both become 'bridged', and a new virtual network connection will be created. That new connection is what windows will actually utilize for networking, and it is basically a virtual connection between the server, and the virtual switch. You will still get the benefit of splitting bandwidth, as directed traffic will still only use the link that will get it to it's destination.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

If you've already got a router providing DHCP on the other network connection, all you have to do is 'bridge' the two networks in win7.

If he already has a router, he doesn't need to bridge anything. All he needs to do is plug the HD200 into his existing router-based LAN.

[sdsean]

Yeah I guess I didn't think about the fact that I could just connect the HD200 directly to the lan, since there already is a router. . .but there is only one port. . .so then i'd loose the connect to the server. . .so I could bridge in software (thanks for the help on this btw). . .

I also have a switch laying round, so i could use that and then hookup to the lan. . .I was just thinking that using the extra port on the server would be the way to go b/c i don't need yet another piece of powered hardware sitting in my setup. . .

[GKusnick]

The simplest configuration is to disable the second LAN port on your server and keep everything on one subnet. The way you don't have to worry about bridging or making sure Sage binds to the correct network interface. Switches draw very little power, and a decent switch will probably do a better job than your router of managing traffic on the LAN. So ideally you'd have all your local traffic going through the switch, and only Internet traffic would go through the router.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

The simplest configuration is to disable the second LAN port on your server and keep everything on one subnet. The way you don't have to worry about bridging or making sure Sage binds to the correct network interface. Switches draw very little power, and a decent switch will probably do a better job than your router of managing traffic on the LAN. So ideally you'd have all your local traffic going through the switch, and only Internet traffic would go through the router.

well, that's kind of the advantage of bridging, both sides are still on the same subnet, and the PC still only has a single Interface, so sage still binds correctly.