EDIT: The network connection for the server is bridged trough my high-end dual-gigabit network card. Is this going to be a problem?
this is consistent with what we have seen. the more advanced the user, the more in trouble he gets

(saying things are idiotic is also typical of advanced users)
there are some good points in there: amahi is not flexible enough for some cases. we start with the mainstream user that (mostly) follows directions, for the main install. with the express CD, the goal is to cut down complexity and install time.
this is how it works:
in order for it to be a server, it must stay at a static ip address. this, sadly, gets propagated across a number of services which require that. we do not have code to support changing this on the fly. we do take patches, if you want to change it. we will tend to make this more and more modular, so this is something we're interested in.
there is no way around running it as a static ip address. it's the only sane way to run a server. the monumental amount of work to make a server dynamically change DNS mappings, etc.
but anyway ...
first, there is no need to hit the :2000 port at all. the server was installed upon first reboot. if it did not work, we need to debug it. the bridging and some unusual
second, it's a server. there is no need to run desktop unless one wants to also use it as a desktop, hence the option to install that later as a one-click app.
third, using multiple NICs is not well supported. you can try to use
eth1, which is kinda supported, though not dynamically. you do not describe what you are using precisely, but if you are bridging, the services from amahi will only be available on eth0, transparently (if it's true bridging).
once a system is set up, we only support changing the gateway (though a script, with hda-change-gw). 99% of users do not need to change this ever. i would go on and on how adding these options *really* wrecks chaos on how users see things. in fact, network detection is automatic, so, if anything, we are going in the other direction, that of simplification.