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I have just purchased a HP Proliant N40L which I am intending to use as a NAS, learning tool and just in general something to mess around with. As a student via the Microsoft dreamspark program I can get a free copy of Windows Server 2008 R2 which I am using as the OS.

So that I can remote to the box from outside of my local network and so that I can stream media from it to my PS3, I have read that I need to create a static IP for the server and use port forwarding to forward to this IP so I can remote in. Is this correct?

I am not really sure how to do this and if I need to make these changes on my router configuration, on the OS or both. I am a novice when it comes to networking however most resources for Windows server 2008 R2 seem to assume a fair amount of experience already.

I realise that using this particular OS may seem like overkill for what I currently wish to do with it (stream content to other devices and backup) but as I can get a copy for free it seems sensible.

Edit:

From reading answers posted I feel I should give more information. I have now tried to add a static IP address using my router configuration settings. I have used the getmac command to get the mac address of the server. My ISP is Virgin Media and I have gone to the LAN IP section and I have added an IP address to the DHCP Reservation Lease Info. I can now use remote desktop connection internally to remote to the server (so I am assuming assigning this IP has worked). How do I configure this on the OS as well?

I am also unsure on how I would remote to this machine outside of my local network?

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    in your Router Admin panel, if you poke around you should have already found the DHCP reservation section. From there, you would be able to assign that internal static IP to the Mac address of the server. You would not need to do anything on the computer itself to keep that internal IP. To easily access your server from the outside, after you have forwarded any relevant ports through your router, you could sign up for a free account at no-ip.com install their client on your server, and use the address you get from them when you sign up.
    – Bon Gart
    Jul 2, 2012 at 20:19
  • Thanks Bon Gart. If forward remote desktop port (3389 by default) to the static IP address I have set for my server, will that mean I cannot then use it to remote to another computer on the same network? Looking at no-ip.com now.
    – Aesir
    Jul 2, 2012 at 20:30
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    You can just change the port on the other machine you want to access support.microsoft.com/kb/306759 that RDP uses, and then forward THAT port to that machine.
    – Bon Gart
    Jul 2, 2012 at 20:34
  • Just found this article (windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/…) which explains how to configure this.
    – Aesir
    Jul 2, 2012 at 20:34

2 Answers 2

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I am not really sure how to do this and if I need to make these changes on my router configuration, on the OS or both.

You will need to do configuration on both your router and to your OS. The static IP address for the machine will allow the PS3 a stable connection description to rely upon.

You can set a static IP address in Network Connections under your LAN adapter details

Usually something like start -> Control Panel -> Network Adapters (Right Click) -> Properties

or if you have the connection in the taskbar right click and click properties

The port forwarding on your router will allow remote clients to connect to the box inside your network but isnt necessary if you were just trying to connect your PS3.

To enable port forwarding there are specifics for each individual router but generally you will have to access it from its web config panel from a browser at an address like 192.168.1.254 (varies) and find your specific port forwarding settings.

Update

Or as was pointed out below it it may be easier to set up a manual IP from your computer in the router DHCP settings.

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    It might be easier to simply set a DHCP reservation in the router. Jul 2, 2012 at 19:34
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    that handles the network configuration within the local network. However, it still doesn't provide a static IP to the computer from outside the network. He would need to either purchase a static IP address from his ISP for his connection, or he would need to sign up with a service like no-ip.com
    – Bon Gart
    Jul 2, 2012 at 19:42
  • @BonGart True and very valid point (+1) , but how often does your external IP actually change? Mine stays the same for months Jul 2, 2012 at 19:52
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    @BrandonKreisel That is too true... but signing up for the free service is worth it because its free, we don't know how often his ISP rotates his IP, and... this covers that time when he wants to access his network remotely and they did change it.
    – Bon Gart
    Jul 2, 2012 at 19:54
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    @BonGart and it's always that one time that you need it that it changes :) Jul 2, 2012 at 19:56
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You need to do it on both your OS and router.

On the OS you have to make rules for the Firewall on the specific port.

On your Router, you should assign Static Local IP to your computer from the DHCP configuration. If you router don't have such option, you can config in your OS by go to network adapter Properties.

If you want to remote control from the outside your local network and you have a static internet IP address. You have to assign your modem to a Dynamic Domain. www.Dyndns.com is one option.

You also have to config the port forwarding to your computer from your Router, this option is under NAT option. If you're running several services on your Computer (such HTTP, FTP...) you might choose the DMZ host option also, this option allow to forward all the port to a specific IP address.

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