NICs, proxy, and Apache

Good morning all,
I am in the process of setting up a LAMP server for a class I am taking. I have a NIC card enabled and try to use the mobo network interface for an SSL connection.
I have done this a few times and keep running into the same problems.
I configure DHCP and DNS services for my local network, and everything works great, for both clients and the server.
Apache works fine, I can access three virtual domains, one of which is on a different local IP address through the motherboard interface.
When I set up Proxy services, everything still works, although when I check the “Test Proxy Settings” in Yast there is an error that it cannot connect. But Firefox on the server and the client can still connect using this proxy.
Finally, when I set up one of the Virtual Domains to use SSL, things go south. When I reach this point, I am able to connect to the secure site through Firefox, after adding an exception, but I cannot connect to the Internet or access repositories for updates.
I have messed with this so much that I am surprised that I haven’t thrown my machine out the window.

Lyle