DHCP & RRAS issues

[CPhoenix]

Hiya again,

THANKS ALOT FOR THE HELP RE:XP Server & Forwarding DNS

I've finally got this whole lot working - 😎
Took me the good part of a day but hey it was worth it!

Anyway - new problems have since arisen (however somewhat small in comparision).

Main problem now is that my Demand-Dial to my ISP is constantly connecting - even when no machine is requesting external IP access. 😕 😕

Is there something in RRAS or NAT which I have overlooked?

Plus (smaller problem), my DHCP leased address is getting full with Remote Access Icons (Named: server.alliance.com - which is the name of my server).

Could the constant dial requests be reason for the high amount of assigned IP addresses?

Thanks for your help in advance, I'll have to buy you guys a beer sometime! 😀

Cheers

Craig

 

[clutch]

So the DNS info helped? Cool.

Back to the task at hand. You state that RRAS is in fact working, but working a bit *too* well right? Unfortunately, your server or workstations *could* be making external requests for information (this includes DNS requests, as the server is forwarding them if the local routing table doesn't have them cached). Various applications (ever heard of "Spyware"?) make unknown/unwanted connections online all the time if they think they have a 24/7 connection to the Internet. And, unfortunately, your workstations are convinced this is the case. If you had a packet sniffer (like Etherpeek or Sniffer Pro) you could validate this easily by letting it run and then evaluating the capture shortly after it has completed an unwanted dial up session.

Do you have a virus scanner or any application that does periodic updates? Is the auto update service of WinXP enabled on any of your workstations? These will make requests of online resources, and cause the server to negotiate a new connection.

In regards to your flood of icons, all these connections *could* be the issue, but I can't tell you for sure. Sorry about that.

HTH

 

[CPhoenix]

Hiya again,

I've ran SpyNet - Since its freeware.
Shortly before dialing up it gave me the standard Bootp Request from my server's IP (192.168.0.1) which was directed at 255.255.255.255. Which seems pretty normal.

As it started to dial-up - few packets were being displayed ->

ARP -> Request - 192.168.0.1 (src) - 192.0.32.18 (dest)

It seemed to me that if the DNS didn't know where 192.0.32.18 was, it may be that it would have forwarded it to my ISP. But I'm not too sure on this.

If it wasn't these packets which initiated the dialup - then I would assue there was an internal setting which I have overlooked (which I can't find) which is constantly dialing my modem.

Cheers for any help (I'll have to make that 2 beers, if I can get this sorted!).

Regards,

Craig.

 

[clutch]

What is Spynet? Is this some sort of IRC-type chat software? DNS is for name resolution, not IP resolution unless performing a reverse lookup, which doesn't sound like the case here. I don't think I understand what your issue is at the moment. Give me the big picture, so we can work backwards from there.

 

[CPhoenix]

Hiya,

Sorry, I haven't made it clearer.

I have a Dual PII 233 server running XP Advanced Server (Build 2462). Although this is supposed to be the minium spec - my machine runs quite happily.

I have two other machines which connect to the server. One is a standard workstation (Athlon 700 blah blah) and the other is a Compaq Laptop. Each of these is running Windows XP professional using IP addresses assigned by the DHCP server. Physically they all are connected to each other via a hub (on RJ45)

I have configured the DHCP to use a scope of 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.254. With 192.168.0.1 reserved for my server.

I have set up RRAS to use NAT for my internet connection (NTLWORLD) which is through a 56k modem setup for Demand Dial. The private domain is "alliance.com" which has been set up in the DNS config along with my ISP's DNS server addresses (194.168.4.100 & 194.168.8.100) in the forwarders tab.

The main problem is that, it will repeatedly attempt to connect to the internet. I have ran SpyNet (a simple packet sniffer) however the results are inconlusive. The only one of any interest is the ARP Request - but I doubt this has much signifigance.

Plus to add irriate me further - every connection attempt the server usually allocates an IP address from the scope. None of these of which never get released. Thus having one very full IP Address Lease list.

(N.B. I currently do not have WINS installed yet! but I know it should work without it).

If there is any other information you need please just ask.

THANKS FOR YOU HELP!

Kindest Regards,

Craig