My question has three parts: If I want to enable RRAS in Win Server 2003, but the server only has one NIC installed, do I... (1) Need to purchase specifically a WAN NIC? (2) Install a standard NIC card and configure it specifically to function as a WAN NIC? If number 2 is sufficient, where would I find instructions on how to configure the NIC card to function as a WAN Nic? If I am using a VPN 8-port router, could that be considered the additional WAN/LAN NIC configuration?

A NIC is a NIC is a NIC. There's no such thing as a "WAN NIC" until you've installed it and set it up and connected it to an external source. Which is to say, the NIC in my PC is just a NIC. If I connect it to my highspeed modem, it's still a NIC but now it's a NIC connected to an external (WAN) source. If I unplug it from the modem, plug the modem into a SOHO router and then plug the NIC into a "LAN" port on the router, it's still a NIC only now it's configured for the LAN.

That's what I thought, until I found websites selling Cisco "WAN NIC" at $300 and up! I may have found a site that describes how to configure the NIC to function as a WAN NIC. Thank you for confirming what I thought.

That could easily be referring to an interface that fits into a Cisco device (such as a router or managed switch) and is proprietary....and knowing cisco, expensive to boot.

Jost go on thru the features of the NIC.. nic are of dfferent types.. ethernet -10 Mbps.. fast etherent -100 mbps Gigabyte multi-ethernet-1000mbps connectivity.. maybe some thing like that ... WAN NIC.. anyway inetresting...

There are "wan nics" but they are for phone systems and are basically a T1 card that goes in a server or PBX. daytek don't confuse the functionality with description. In other words a nic is a nic but its FUNCTIONALITY is based on what it connects to. So one nic in the server connects to the wan which could be a switch, router or modem, whereas the other nic connects to the lan which could be a switch or another router.