networking question

[jmebonner]

Vacation's over
I did, however pick up two more cows while roaming around the country (small ones unfortunately, but still cows)
So...
I'm in need of a small network to run FAD from. Right now I just have my a7n8x deluxe tied to another comp, but that won't work anymore unless I switch my cable around to upload one at a time.

What do I need? I can get 10/100 cards for all of them, but how do I go about hooking it all up? I'll be putting a naked version of 98 on all of the computers and my main will be XP pro.

Any suggestions? Do I really need to network them, or just get a hub so they can all upload? Do I need a hard drive in each one, if so what's the minimum size... etc, etc

Thx!
Jme

[John Prophet]

Are you talking about sharing internet access among all the comps or just for the comps to be talking to each other and not the internet?

If its just to talk to each other you just need a hub or better yet a switch (switch is a lil faster/smarter)..then a NIC in each comp.

Then just have them all on the same workgroup..all of the w98s will be on a workgroup named "workgroup" so the only catch would be to make sure the xp comp is on a workgroup named "workgroup" and maybe that the xp comp has "netbios over tcp/ip" enabled. Also the names of the w98 comps cant have spaces in them or the xp comp will just stall out trying to connect to them..so dont name them stuff like "cow 2" cuz that space will mess you up.

If you are talking about internet access you need a router which has the 4 port or 8 port switch built in (of course you can also go from router to hub or switch to expand it further)...the router takes the broadband connection and gives it out to each of the other comps and gives them an IP address also...basically that pretty much shields them from most hack attacks (but not viruses).

Or you could put two nics in the Xp machine and then use ICS (internet connection sharing)..one nic for the cable modem and one nic going to a hub then all the machines. Or if its dialup you just need a nic to go to the hub. Then you run the networking wizard off of the xp cd on each of the w98 machines.

JP

[jmebonner]

I suppose I need both for simplicity's sake. I'll use tight vnc from the main (the bull ) to look at all of the cows, that way I don't have to swap my monitor around all of the time. So, if I understand right, I need a switch first so they can all communicate w/ the main, and then a router also (connected to the switch?) so they can all upload their data as needed?

Thanks for the help!

[John Prophet]

Well a switch is nothing but a smarter version of a hub....so as far as usage they are the same..plug em in and everything ssees each other.

The routers nowadays almost all have 4 port switches built in...so you would probably use 3 of those ports and then go from the 4th port with a crossover cable to your hub or another switch etc.

Most routers and switches have a port which can function as an "uplink"...more or less all that does is give you a port that is ALREADY crossed over..... so to go from hub to hub or hub to router or router to switch etc you need to have a crossover...you cant go with a straight thru cable from hub to hub etc....so if you go from router to switch or hub, then EITHER use a crossover cable out of one of the ports, or use the "uplink" port with a straight cable. Sometimes they have 5 ports and the way it works is port 4/5 is an either or kind of thing...you can either use port 4 or port 5 which is the uplink port.

Most of the routers are easy to setup also,,usually the defaults work just fine. You throw a comp to the router then usually type in your internet explorer http:\\192.168.1.1 which is usually the router config page..it will ask you for the name and password which is usually "admin" and "password"..or you can simply get the default name/password from the manual or website...then you usually set a different name and password.

JP

[John Prophet]

oh, and dont go from "uplink" port to "uplink" port cuz that is one crossover going to another which cancels it out! lol. SO go from "uplink" to just any port.

JP

[jmebonner]

Okay, I think I have it all straight. I need to get the HDDs and the Os(es) installed in the new computers, then go about getting the hardware at which point I'll refer back to this thread Thanks for the help JP. Any links to some cheap equipment would be great! I still need a couple nics also.