If your router does not support the necessary UPnP standards that allow the Windows Home Server automatic router configuration for remote access; if you have installed additional software applications on your Windows Home Server for which you need to setup port forwarding – or if you simply want to ensure your WHS is always using the same IP address you should configure a static IP address.

Why is setting a Static IP on your Windows Home Server a good idea?

Users can access the WHS on the local network or through the internet if Remote Access is enabled and configured. If you have manually configured port forwarding to your WHS on your router but not configured your WHS to use a static IP address you are asking for trouble.
If you leave the server to acquire an IP address on the default DHCP means that your server’s IP address will likely change, for example the DHCP IP address lease expired, the server or router restarted due to a power outage etc.
Therefore, even if your router fully supports UPnP and you have Remote Access configured automatically, assigning a static IP address to the Windows Home Server is a good idea because it ensures the server will always use the same IP address.

There are two different ways you can configure a static IP address for your Windows Home Server.

1) Reserve a static IP over DHCP at your router level. For this to work you need to have a router which supports static DHCP / IP reservation and you need to know your WHS MAC address. In short, the DHCP server on your router allocates an IP address based on a table with MAC address / IP address pairs – any time your WHS requests an IP address, its MAC address will be matched/found in this table and the reserved IP address will be assigned. This feature is variously called Static DHCP assigned, DHCP reservation or Static DHCP depending on the router manufacturer.

Throughout the Broadband Router Configuration series we favor this option as the best way to assign a static IP address to your Windows Home Server.

2) Manually assign a static IP address directly on the Windows Home Server.

IMPORTANT
Your Windows Home Server’s IP Address configuration must be on the same network mask as your default gateway (your router) and all connected clients. Therefore we recommend to first check and note your current Windows Home Server IP address configuration.

Check your Network Configuration (Gateway & Subnet)

1. Establish a remote desktop connection to your server
2. Click on Start, and enter cmd into the run dialog box to open the command prompt
   
3. When the prompt opens, type IPCONFIG and press the ENTER key. This will display the server’s current IP CONFIGURATION. In most cases, the default gateway will be 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 and the subnet mask 255.255.255.0. However your network may use a different configuration, adjust accordingly and only proceed if you are sure of what you are doing!
   
4. Once you have determined your default gateway (router) IP address and subnet mask information you can proceed to configure a static IP address. Ensure that no other computer, laptop or device is using the same IP address –otherwise there will be address conflicts and problems.

Setting a Static IP address on the server

At this point you should be logged into your server’s desktop – if not, re-establish a remote desktop connection.

1. Click the Start button in the left hand corner, proceed to Control Panel and open Network Connections.
   
   
2. Most home server’s only have a single network interface card. If you have additional network cards installed make sure you configure the correct one. Right-click on the network adapter and choose Properties.
   
   
3. The connection properties dialog box will load. Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click on Properties.
   
4. The Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog opens where we can now change the IP options from DHCP to use a static IP address. Change from “Obtain and IP address automatically” to “Use the following IP address” and configure your IP address accordingly.
   
5. Double check your settings before proceeding. And when these new IP configurations are applied the remote desktop session will stop responding – this behavior is by design. It is best to reboot your client machine and try to establish a new remote desktop connection to your server using the new static IP address. You can now continue to configure static port forwarding to your Windows Home Server.