I have a W2K server with 2 NICs (1st NIC internal network to a switch, 2nd NIC external network to the wall jack wich is connected to a router on the other side), 2 W2K Pro clients both NICs to the switch. I have setup RRAS on the W2K server so i can use NAT for the clients. I have the NAT handing out the ip addresses (192.168.8.xx scope to the clients, everything works fine). The router is still setup as a DHCP server because it hands out ip addresses to other computers in the house not involved in this home network, also it gives an ip address to the 2nd NIC on the server allowing the private LAN internet access once NAT is set up. My question is: Prior to setting up NAT, I tried to connect to the internet with one of the clients, but no connection, why wasn't the router able to assign the client an ip address in its 192.168.1.0 router scope? Is this private LAN behind the 1st internal LAN NIC on the server not visible from the router? Will the router once i setup RRAS-NAT be able to assign the clients on the private LAN an ip addresses if i do not give the NAT a DHCP scope? if no; why not? Will the private LAN clients request to a DHCP server not go through the 2nd NIC to the router and back to the clients to assign them an ip address? I am gonna put a DHCP server on this private LAN eventually, instead of having NAT assign ip addresses, but these are just questions that I have on topics that I understand but reasons that I do not understand, and with answers/explanations to these questions, my understanding will be enhanced. Thanks So here is the LAN setup, W2K server with 2 NICs, one to private LAN (switch) and 2nd to public WAN (router), clients are connected to the switch.

Since no one else has responded yet, I have to say that the setup sounds pretty convoluted. There's not way to tell what is going on without really seeing it. You say that the 1st NIC on the server is for the public, but that it's uplinked to a router. If that's the case, then it's really a LAN NIC and the router has the public IP address. What are you trying to accomplish with this setup that connecting all the computers, clients and server, to the router and letting the router do NAT and act as your firewall, not accomplish?