virtualbox.org

Hi there,

I'm trying to wrap my head around the networking settings so I understand what the best settings are for me. Bottom line is my goal is to set up a mini lab/test network environment separate from the host but still be able to reach the "outside world" internet to get windows updates and software patches. My host is Windows 7 Pro (on a home network). My guest(s) will be Windows Server 2008 R2 and possibly a guest workstation O/S for testing some server-client application scenarios.

Can someone confirm these statements for me, that I have the correct understanding?

1. If I want a guest to connect to the internet to get windows updates etc., I should use NAT as one of the NIC adapters on each machine.

2. If I use bridged mode, the guests are visible to the host and vice versa. I.E. if for instance I was running a SQL server on a guest, I could theoretically run an application on the host OR on another guest that connects to that SQL server instance?

3. If I use internal network, the guests are visible to each other but not to the host. I.E. this is an ideal choice if I want to set this lab type of environment independent of the host and other machines on my host network. The above example of a SQL server would be invisible to the host but visible to the other guests?

4. On the guest vb that will be the domain controller and DNS server, I should set a static IP address on the non-NAT adapter and that is the base IP for the DNS/DC settings?

Thanks a million... I'm new to virtualbox (used Virtual PC in the past a lot) and this is the first time attempting to build a little network. In the past all I've ever built is standalone servers with all services on one server - no networking fuss was needed.

Jen

Setup all guests that need to be in this "Domain" (separate network) to use Internal.
Setup a separate guest with (2) adapters. One to Internal, and the other to NAT if you want to keep it separate from the host to be able to use as your router.
Windows XP using ICS or a Linux pFsense work well.

Thanks Perry. Is there a configuration that doesn't require another guest just to be have NAT? I.E. if I simply set each guest to have one NAT adapter and one Internal Network adapter would that work as well? Or do I need a guest as you mention just to be able to have a domain running within my guest network?

Sorry for the newbie questions - I'm not a network guru by any stretch, I don't know what you mean by ICS for instance.

Jen

You can do as you say but that will cause the Domain to become multi-homed. This is possible but you need to be advanced in Windows setup and networking.

ICS = Internet Connection Sharing.

The actual setup is beyond the scope of this forum as it really has nothing to do with VirtualBox.

Thanks Perry. I will look into the ICS and play with the vb settings some more to learn more about them and how they work.