Help Needed With Test Lab Setup and Internet Access (but not network access).

[Fazza]

I’ve set up a test lab using a decommissioned server we had, I’ve installed Windows Server 2019 on it and set up Hyper-V as I will be using Virtual Machines in my lab.

 

 

I have created a PRIVATE switch and created 3 Virtual Machines who are all connected to it; DC1 (Server 2016), FS1 (Server 2019) and a Windows 10 Client PC.

 

I have also created a second Virtual Switch called DOMAIN.

 

 

On the Virtual Machine called DC1 that I have set up as a Domain Controller I have added a second Network Card and connected it to the DOMAIN virtual switch so this VM is connected to both the physical network and my test lab network.

I have configured DHCP on DC1 and bound it to just the network card that is on the PRIVATE virtual switch so there is no chance of DHCP hopping over and causing mayhem on our live domain!

 

 

How can I give/share the internet connection that DC1 has access to (via it’s second network card connected to our physical network) to the other virtual machines that are only connected to the PRIVATE switch?

 

I’ve done this before a long, long time ago when a College I worked at started teaching MCSE courses so I installed 2 network cards in their server and configured it so their test domain didn’t come anywhere near our live domain except for sharing the internet connection.

In the back of my mind I’m getting that I need to possibly bridge the two networks together on my virtual Domain Controller (DC1) but I’ve not done this for years.

 

 

Is this still the right/best way to achieve what I’m after?

[Bumhug360]

You want to set up a NAT network

 

Set up a NAT network | Microsoft Docs

[Davit2005]

You could have issues with multiple adapters on a DC (multi homed domain controller)

 

You could go down a different route and get a 2nd hand router and/or use vlans. I did that when setting up a VDI project about 10 years ago. Different vlan can have different dhcp server and DNS. You are not restricted to the hypervisor then and can attach any device to the same vlan/router.

[Fazza]

You want to set up a NAT network

 

Set up a NAT network | Microsoft Docs

 

That kind of rings a bell so I'll take a look at this.

 

 

You could have issues with multiple adapters on a DC (multi homed domain controller)

 

You could go down a different route and get a 2nd hand router and/or use vlans. I did that when setting up a VDI project about 10 years ago. Different vlan can have different dhcp server and DNS. You are not restricted to the hypervisor then and can attach any device to the same vlan/router.

 

I've never created a VLAN before so that's a bit out of my comfort zone as it's not something I've needed to do before.