setting up a windows 2000 network

hello,

i have to install and configure a windows 2000 network. the systems are connected to the internet via a cable modem and the systems are assigned ip addresses from the isp's dhcp server.

will this be a problem while setting up the network. in this case can i configure a dns server locally. if yes how can i do it.

what is the significane of domain name given while installing windows 2000 server. what should i give as the domain name while installing 2000 server if i dont have a domain name registered.

thanks
Joseph.

I don't believe your isp will provide ip's for all the machines on your network, usually the machine that connects to the internet will get a valid ip whilst the remainder of the machines will use unallocated class c addresses (like 192.168.0.1 for example).
Setting up dns /can/ be as easy as starting the dns service from the services part of the mmc - why do you want to use dns locally again?
The significance of a domain name (by this i assume you mean a fully qualified domain name - fqdn) when installing a w2k server is null, you don't need to have a domain registered to setup a windows domain, its confusing that the 2 terms are the same but they mean different things - here's a link to help - http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000...hs/default.asp

The Windows 2000 domain is just an NT logon domain so you can do stuff like login scripting etc. over your local network... and I'd recommend using manually set class A [10.x.x.x] IP addresses [start with 10.0.0.1 for your Win2K server, or for your internet firewall/router... If you want you could use DHCP to assign IP addresses, but if you've only got a small amount of computers on the network manually assigning works better [and you always know the IP of everything] If i misunderstood, and you're networking hundreds of computers, then DHCP would be your best bet!

Hi There;

I have set up several networks with internal DNS servers..
Use a Linksys router between the cable modem and your internal
network.

Set up a W2K Pro or XP Pro box on the system

go to http://www.jhsoft.com and download Simple DNS

I personally use this as my secondary DNS works fine

I use a Cobalt Server as my primary internam DNS

You need to have lots of networking skills to do this
But it works for me

You have to consider what you plan on doing
I have 3 internal DNS servers here in my shop
just to be sure my skill are up to par when I set
up a network for a customer..

Once it is in place you will not have to worry
about your ISP DNS's and you can do lots of neat things
like assign internal domains to your different
pieces of equipment.

Hope this helps