What do I need to network my computers?
- Thread starter Aunty Em
- Start date
To work both pc's off of one monitor you need a KVM switch, those are pretty cool, you can actually use one Keyboard, Video and Mouse for up to 8 computers. Tad expensive, but well worth it if you don't have the space for 8 monitors.
For the networking, for just two computers you can get two nics and a crossover cable, but if you have broadband internet, I'd recommend getting a router as well. The router acts as a firewall, and is good enough to block 90% of the scans you will get. With the router you just need regular patch cables too, not a crossover.
For the networking, for just two computers you can get two nics and a crossover cable, but if you have broadband internet, I'd recommend getting a router as well. The router acts as a firewall, and is good enough to block 90% of the scans you will get. With the router you just need regular patch cables too, not a crossover.
Aunty Em
Well-Known Member
PuterTutor said:
That sounds like exactly what I want and yes I have broadband. Basically I want to have both towers sitting next to each other working off the same peripherals ~ monitor,keyboard, mouse, scanner, printer and cable modem.
When you say video, does that mean they can work off the same video card too? What about sound card?
Actually you can use cdroms between computers just as you would hard drives, or floppies for that matter. Now, you can't boot from a network drive, but after it's booted and connected you can use it just fine.
Using a Burner across a network can be tricky, getting your machine to recognize that a network drive is a burner is a problem to start with, plus it's pretty risky getting files from a network drive to burn, as your buffer can go empty with just a couple network glitches.
As for dual booting, that shouldn't affect anything, but I would recommend an NT based system if you are going to be using the network capabilities, 2k or Xp are both pretty good at it.
I'm sure you'll have more questions once you get it all connected, but it's really not that hard.
Here is a link that might interest you.
http://www.homenethelp.com/
Using a Burner across a network can be tricky, getting your machine to recognize that a network drive is a burner is a problem to start with, plus it's pretty risky getting files from a network drive to burn, as your buffer can go empty with just a couple network glitches.
As for dual booting, that shouldn't affect anything, but I would recommend an NT based system if you are going to be using the network capabilities, 2k or Xp are both pretty good at it.
I'm sure you'll have more questions once you get it all connected, but it's really not that hard.
Here is a link that might interest you.
http://www.homenethelp.com/
Aunty Em
Well-Known Member
PuterTutor said:
I have 2k Pro, which I was thinking of installing on the new computer and also Linux when I dual boot. I've used 2k at work but I will have to become more familiar with it on the admin side I suppose, although they have now upgraded to XP Pro. I must say I like the interface but I don't have the drivers for XP for my scanner and they're not going to provide any or for some of the software that I like.
2k is just as good or better than Xp in my opinion, it's just as secure, just doesn't have all the frills. I don't care as much for frills as I do performance anyway, so 2k works fine for me.
One thing you may have problems with, if you boot into Linux you will have to use a third party app for the linux box to talk to the windows box. If you're going through a router, the internet connection should pretty well set itself up, but actually transfering files from a windows box to a linux box can be an adventure.
One thing you may have problems with, if you boot into Linux you will have to use a third party app for the linux box to talk to the windows box. If you're going through a router, the internet connection should pretty well set itself up, but actually transfering files from a windows box to a linux box can be an adventure.
Aunty Em
Well-Known Member
PuterTutor said:
I'm pretty much the same way when it comes to performance. I usually prefer to add my own frills. I suppose what really impressed me was the speed of the network as opposed to 2K, but I think that may be down to some other tweaks and the fact that we now have our own dedicated broadband connection. Plus it looks cute.
The dedicated broadband is probably what you see there, as most networks are capable of 100mbs, unless you go to Justins where he has the 1 Gig network. You could probably even burn off a 1 gig network. Anyway, 100mbs is a damn fast connection, transferring normal files should be as fast as copying from one local drive to another. I don't beleive there is any real difference from a 2k to XP machine as to the speed of the network, but you can make sure you have the right Nics, there are still some older nics out there that will only go at 10mbs, thus slowing the network down to that, but even that is pretty damn fast.
Network Interface Cards.No, a router is not the same as a hub. There are basically three different Network devices, A Hub, a Switch, and a Router.
A Hub is very simple, it takes data in and sends it out on all ports, doesn't matter where it was supposed to go, it just goes.
A Switch is a little smarter, it can look in the data packets and determine where it's supposed to go, and sends it to that IP.
A Router is smarter yet, it does DHCP, Assigning an IP address to each computer connected to the network, gives you a basic hardware firewall, and usually has a built in switch as well.
A Hub is very simple, it takes data in and sends it out on all ports, doesn't matter where it was supposed to go, it just goes.
A Switch is a little smarter, it can look in the data packets and determine where it's supposed to go, and sends it to that IP.
A Router is smarter yet, it does DHCP, Assigning an IP address to each computer connected to the network, gives you a basic hardware firewall, and usually has a built in switch as well.
Aunty Em
Well-Known Member
OK, so I get the basic idea for the network.
There are 3 computers:
One is wireless connected to the internet(my daughters), but I don't want her to be able to access my computers, so I guess that is best through a router with wireless connection.
The other 2 want to share the same peripherals and a connection to the internet. 2 network cards in the main one ~ one connecting to the router. Crossover between the 2 computers? ?(
There are 3 computers:
One is wireless connected to the internet(my daughters), but I don't want her to be able to access my computers, so I guess that is best through a router with wireless connection.
The other 2 want to share the same peripherals and a connection to the internet. 2 network cards in the main one ~ one connecting to the router. Crossover between the 2 computers? ?(
The access can be set either through the router, or through windows itself, if you have her set up on an NT based machine, you can just go in and set her permissions to not be able to access the network drives, that will leave internet access as the only alternative.
As for the other two, are these the two that you want to use the same keyboard, mouse, and monitor for?
As for the other two, are these the two that you want to use the same keyboard, mouse, and monitor for?
Ok, well the KVM switch is completely seperate from your network. All it will do is allow you to use both computers with the same Keyboard, Mouse, and Video, and allow you to switch between them when they are on. The whole idea of a KVM switch is that the computers don't have a clue it's even there. The networking will have to be done as if they are two seperate computers still. Basically each will have their own IP, and you will have to set up each as if they are two seperate computers, which in essence, they are.
Yes, the KVM is right, make sure you get the cable kits too, as you will need those. the mouse and keyboard you have now will plug into the KVM, but you need the cables to go from the KVM to each computer.
As for the network, that looks right. You do not need a hub between the two computers and the router, just cat5 cable. As for the wireless, I haven't done much, but I think a wireless access point plugged into the router, as well as a wireless nic in your daughters pc should do the trick.
As for the network, that looks right. You do not need a hub between the two computers and the router, just cat5 cable. As for the wireless, I haven't done much, but I think a wireless access point plugged into the router, as well as a wireless nic in your daughters pc should do the trick.