Single IP Multiple Sites

[Ustad_Ji]

I have one IP (e.g. 200.100.10.1) configured on Windows 2003 Server running Solarwinds Orion network monitoring tool. The IP address - when entered in the address bar - opens the web interface of Orion. Now I've created a web page NMS Homepage which is going to be used to access different webpages/applications/tools including Orion through hyperlinks.
The IP 200.100.10.1 is now being used to identify NMS Homepage in IIS. The problem however is that now the web interface of Orion ain't opening. The hyperlink inserted in NMS Homepage to Orion ain't working either. The other hyperlinks are working fine as they point to webpages/applications/tools on different servers with different IPs.
NMS Homepage and Orion both reside on the same server with IP address 200.100.10.1. I can't figure out how to get the hyperlink of Orion to work - whether I need to change the hyperlink or I need to change some configuration in IIS Manager.
I'd really appreciate some help!

[LifeinAsia]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld, Ustad_Ji!

Does Solarwinds Orion use IIS? Network monitoring tools often use Apache or their own web server, which causes a conflict if IIS tries to use the same IP/port. If so, just setup the IIS configuration for NMS Homepage to use a port other than 80, then use that port to get to the NMS Homepage (e.g., 200.100.10.1:8080).

In general, if you want to use IIS to serve multiple sites from the same IP you have 2 choices:
1) Use different ports
2) Use Host Header values

For internal sites, using ports other than the traditional web port 80 isn't much of an issue an issue- just use a different port (I usually use 8080, 8081, etc.) in the IIS properties for each site.

The preferred way is to add a Host Header value for each site in IIS and hit the pages that way (instead of by IP address). The downside is if the Host Header values are not resolvable by DNS (e.g., example.com), then you also have to set the Host Header values in your hosts file.

[Ustad_Ji]

Thanks a lot LifeinAsia!
Using 8080 for NMSHomepage has worked. I had tried it the other way around earlier - by using 8080 for Orion - but had no luck with it.
Could you please tell me why port 8080 didn't work with Orion?
I think Orion does use IIS because I can see it listed in IIS manager; all of its folders and files. Under Web Sites, there's Default Web Site, there's Solarwinds (Orion), and then there's NMS Home Page.
I had tried using Host Header values as well but had no idea how to configure them. I don't have a domain to work with, but you've mentioned something about Host Header values and hosts file. How do I do that?

[LifeinAsia]

Orion may have some internal configurations to only work on port 80- I am not familiar enough with it to say for sure.

Your hosts file is most likely in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc
The format for the file is:
IPaddress HostName

You can have multiple spaces and/or tabs between the IPaddress and HostName. And most likely you have the following entry in there already:
127.0.0.1 localhost

So you could do:
200.100.10.1 NMSHomePage
200.100.10.1 Solarwinds

(Note- you will have to update the hosts file on each computer that will be accessing those sites. Alternatively, you can probably set things up with WINS or LMHOSTS.)

To use the Host Name in IIS:
- Right-click on a site and open the Properties for it
- In the Web Site tab, click on the "Advanced" tab after the IP address
- Edit the entry and add to the "Host Header value" box.
- Click OK to save/close each properties window.
Now you should be good to go.

[Ustad_Ji]

OK this is what I've done:
Entered the IP address and host names in the hosts file on PC from which I'm accessing the sites - under 127.0.0.1 localhost.
Then in IIS manager on 200.100.10.1 server, I've added the host names - which I entered in the hosts file on the PC - as Host Header values.
Have I done it right? If yes, how do I access the sites now?

[Ustad_Ji]

It's working now :)

I just needed to enter one Host Header Value - for NMS Home Page - as I'm using only the IP address for Solarwinds.

I entered 'http://NMSHomepage' in address bar and the page was immediately displayed.

Kudos to you!