I have a computer running Windows Server 2003 installed with Routing and Remote Access to enable NAT from the inside NIC to the outside NIC, and to enable VPN connections from the outside to the inside.
On this computer I would like to run VMware server to be able to have several operating systems running. These Guest OS's would have an IP address on the inside LAN and connect to the outside world through the NAT funtionality on the host computer. This way I only need one powered computer and still run several application servers as well as having the inside LAN connected to the internet.
When I test the scenario with any guest server running from the inside LAN on f.ex. my laptop, it works. My DHCP server (a virtual server bridged to the inside LAN) deliveres the IP address, the same server gets the DNS request from a client and sends this to the default gateway (the inside of my NAT router), here it gets translated to the outside IP address and forwarded out on the internet. The answer comes back the same way and is delivered correctly to the client.
If however I run this virtual machine on my NAT router it fails. It looks like the communication between the virtual machine and NAT router's inside NIC does not follow the standard form. When a package from a virtual machine is destined for the internet it is of course derected to its default gateway. This is the IP address of the NAT router's inside NIC. But because this also is the NIC to which the virtual machine is bridged, the package never gets NAT'ed. It looks as if a virtual machine is not able to communicate with the bridged NIC on the host in the same way that other physical computers can when they are connected to the same NIC.
I have a "workaround/proof of concept", but unvilling to make this my "production" scenario. I install a third NIC in my NAT router, uninstall all protocols and services except "VMWare Bridging" and use this as the bridging NIC for my virtual machines. This way all internet packets from my virtual machines are delivered through this new third NIC to the inside LAN, still heading for the same default gateway, but this way they are NAT'ed correctly.
Does anybody have another - better solutions to this scenario?
Regards Michael Williams