Off Topic
The router/switch is a multi-function device which provides many of the functions offered by eBox (DHCP, NTP, QoS, NAT, Access Control, URL Blocking, DoS, DDNS, Port Forwarding, DMZ, etc.) It is the intention at this stage to use some of these functions via the router/switch and some via eBox.
At the present time eBox is not to be the central control mechanism for the network, rather it is to be part of it, using whatever portions of its functionality are required.
The appeal to me is the opportunity to standardize the build of server boxes that eBox presents, its integration, unified management, and the ability to switch on/off the functionality which is installed, as standard, in all deployed eBoxes. This may change in the future as demands on the system change; eBox may grow to become the central mechanism through which the network is managed and controlled.
The enjoyment of exploring how eBox might be used towards this end may have allowed wanderering from the shortest path to the objective, and thereby led to some confusion. Is exploration meant to be an exercise in finding the shortest path?
On Topic
#1
The initial experiment showed that resolution of WAN names/addresses can remain a function of the router/switch while eBox conducts resolution of LAN based names/addresses. It was not the intention to set up an externally registered domain name.
#2
The second experiment was to explore transferring DHCP from the router/switch to an eBox. This initially proved problematical and as part of the trouble shooting a lightweight GUI and a web browser were installed on the test eBox machine. When it was determined how DHCP could be transferred successfully (i.e the experiment successfully concluded) it left an interesting, unanswered question which was not one of the original goals of the experiment. It is this non-essential element that is now being explored (experiment three)
#3
Establish why the GUI/web browser installed on a test eBox (created in #2) is unable to browse the web successfully when DHCP is enabled on the eBox machine. How is this rectified? When the LAN workstations are allocated an ip address via DHCP on the router/switch browsing the web from the eBox is successful.