Multiple VPN connections and Windows Server 2003

This one had me totally stumped for a couple of hours…

OK I’d setup a VPN server on Windows Server 2003 Web Edition which is something I’ve done before a number of times using RRAS (Remote Routing and Access Services), set my VPN user up and allowed them access to the server…

Went to the client computer, set the VPN connection up and tested. Bingo, connects straight away, I could map the drives etc all without a problem…

Now I then setup a second user on the VPN server for access and setup a separate computer to connect to it.

Erm… No dice. I kept getting a vague 651 or 800 error message being sent back which indicated that I couldn’t connect to the server.

I found then that if I disconnected the first client and tried connecting with the second client all was hunky dory so it was only allowing one connection at a time. After several hours googling and a chat with the data centre we established something that I (nor they) had come across before in that Windows Server 2003 web edition only allows one incoming VPN connection! The solution is to upgrade to Standard edition when the limit is raised to 1,000….

This little nugget of info is buried deep amongst the tech notes and is not really the first place you would check.

Now had I got an error along the lines of “Error code: xxx. You can only have one VPN connection to Windows Server 2003 Web Edition (you dumbass)” that would have been more helpful! Ok lose the dumbass bit but at least it would have been entertaining…

Vague error messages and response codes seem to be the hallmark of Microsoft at times so hopefully this post will help someone else out.

2 thoughts on “Multiple VPN connections and Windows Server 2003

  1. Yup I located that after going through a few hours of pain 😉

    It’s not the most obvious thing in the world though…

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