TCP/IP in Windows 2000 Professional

When a computer is configured with more than one IP address, it is referred to as a multihomed system. Multihoming is supported in two different ways:

• Multiple network adapters or media types per physical network.
  The network adapters can be for similar or dissimilar networks. For example, a host with one Ethernet and one Token Ring adapter installed, each linked to a separate network, requires IP addresses to be bound to both adapters. There are no restrictions other than hardware.

• Multiple IP addresses per network adapter.
  A computer can access multiple subnets that are logically separated, but bound to a single network adapter. Such a configuration might be used in an environment where a host requires access to different divisions of a corporation network that are separated by different subnets.
  Windows 2000 Professional allows an unlimited number of IP address/subnet mask pairs.
  Figure 22.15 shows an example of a Windows 2000 Professional computer using multihoming to connect to two subnets. These subnets can be physically separated by disparate or disconnected cabling, or logically separated through subnetting.
  Figure 22.15 Multihomed Windows 2000 Professional Computer Connected to Two Separate Networks