Default Internet connection on Dual LAN Workstation

Question

I know this is not programming directly, but it's regarding a development workstation I'm setting up...so bare with me.

I've got a Windows Server 2003 machine that needs to be on two LAN segments at the same time. One of them is a 10.17.x.x LAN and the other is 10.16.x.x

The problem is that I don't want to be using up the bandwidth on the 10.16.x.x network for internet traffic, etc (this network is basically only for internal stuff, though it does have internet access) so I would like the system to use the 10.17.x.x connection for anything that is external to the LAN (and for anything on 10.17.x.x of course, and to only use the 10.16.x.x connection for things that are on that specific LAN.

I've tried looking into the windows "route" command but it's fairly confusing and won't seem to let me delete routes tha tI believe are interfering with what I want it to do. Is there a better way of doing this? Any good software for segmenting your LAN access?

Answer 1

If you don't move your network cables around and can assign yourself a static IP address on the 10.16.x.x network, you can refrain from assigning a gateway address on that network. If there is no gateway, internet packets will not be routed on that interface.

If you use DHCP, static record to recognize your MAC address and not provide a gateway IP address.

As for using advanced windows routing, the route you are looking for is the 0.0.0.0 route (default route). The important number is the metric value, which is the cost for the route, where the lower metric tends to be used first. You can set the metric at the interface level directly in the GUI.

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/i/tr/cms/contentPics/tcpip-F.gif

I believe if you set the interface metric to a high value on the 10.16.x.x interface, it will not be used as a gateway.

Personally I use the method where I refrain from defining a gateway IP.

Answer 2

@Martin

I'll give it a shot...unfortunately I have not access to change the network setup and static IPs are not allowed.

I will try the gateway metrics though and see if that works.

Answer 3

I'm no network expert but I have fiddled with the route command a number of times...

route add 0.0.0.0 MASK 0.0.0.0 <address of gateway on 10.17.x.x net>

Will route all default traffic through the 10.17.x.x gateway, if you find that it still routes through the other interface, you should make sure that the new rule has a lower metric than the existing routes. Do this by adding METRIC 1 for example to the end of the line above.

You could also adjust the metric in the Advanced TCP/IP Settings window of the 10.17.x.x interface, unticking the Automatic Metric checkbox and setting the value to something low, like 1 or 2.