Setting Up a LAN using windows 98se

valis

people like your is pain in the ass you know that ! i'm not seeking your opinion so you better shut your f***ing mouth!

1- Every one has a right to ask questions...and no one is a born Guru.

Now back to the question.

choose the most powerful among your lot of 10 as a server...

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/home-network.htm

should help you more in this regard...

LMAO Don't be shy here...

Anywho... you say 10 workstations... ALL Windows 98???

A server is used for numerous things... DHCP, DNS, FIREWALLS, FILE SHARING, PRINT SERVERS. Either WINNT SERVER, WIN2K Server, WIN2K Advanced Server, or 2003 Server is what is primarily used for this (Being that the "Server" Edition allows more than 10 connections to one pc....)

Now if it's just win 98 machines... You need to put them on their own I.P. address : i.e. 10.189.1.1 through 10.189.1.254. Subnet mask... 255.255.255.0. Default gateway... xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (Router to internet or machine with internet access). Mind you the I.P. addresses are what you make of them, if you need more detail, please let me know.

Lastly, you would make a share Folder on your "Server". This is where people can save their documents for all to have access to or where you want people to backup their files. Then you would map everyone to this folder.

Need more info, please post.

Good luck

Hey there,

There are certain things to be denoted long before you set up your network the most important of which is What is the need for the server, is it to share fewer printer resources, file sharing, is it going to be an application server is it purely for data security and backup purposes.

One other major factor is Budget, Server software does not come cheap and for the majority of them for a ten user licence it will cost you in excess of ?2,500.

Here's a few examples:-

If the requirement is for users to share data between themselves with no real security requirement, then a simple logical peer to peer setup can be utilised.
You would buy a small hub to accomodate all the devices and assign an IP address to each device within a valid range i.e. 192.168.0.1 - 10 for your PC's subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Gateway address not required.
On each 98 PC enable File and Printer sharing in Networking properties and woala you should be able to see each of the other PC's.

The information I have supplied here is a rough guide and although you felt that user Valis was abusing you he has a valid point.

Networking is more than just a plug in and off you go environment, and if this is all new to you, your going to have a steap learning curve.
Server Operating systems although they appear just like ordinary OS's for all intent and purpose (Note This is relecting purely on the Microsoft range of Server Os's to their Client counterparts) But are far from simple to get your head round they require study and a lot of trial and error especially if this is your first server without support you could be in for quite a time.

The first question above should give you the type of netowrk and server i.e. File server, Print server, Applications server, Internet gateway. thus decide what your requirement is before designing your network.

Hope this helped

Martin Mack

hi all i forgot to tell the purpose of the network i'm setting up a small internet cafe and also for network games like half-life, C&C etc.

i have little knowledge about network but the problem is......its my first time to setup a network from a scratch.... thanks all for the suggestion....

First setup the TCP/IP properties of each WS and the SERVER since you are doing a peer network you will be using static IP address which I suggest even if you have a internet router. If you have a router its IP will be the default gateway, if not then the 'server' will be the gw.

The server will typically be the most powerful (hardware wise) of your PC's, maybe even have multiple HDD's but not necessary. Since you are running 98SE on all workstations incl the 'server' you don't have much in the way of file security. Right mouse on Network Neighborhood and choose propterties, then click on the file and print sharing and enable both (this can be done on just the 'server' or any or all of the workstations also or you may just want to share the WS printers and not files) Next use windows explorer to pick what folders and/or HDDs on the server you want to share - go into printer properties to share the server's printers. Once you have the shares created then you will probably want a batch script in startup to 'map' the shared folders and or printers. Check any applications that you may want to run from the server as well as some apps need to run from a single drive letter i.e. if the workstation is setup to run the app from f: then the svr must have same mapping to run the app.
sample batch file - logon.bat
net use f: /d /y 'clears mapping'
net use lpt2: /d /y 'clears printer'
net use f: \\server\share1 'maps resource'
net use lpt2 \\server\hp4000 'maps printer'
net time \\server1 /set /y 'sets clock to svr'

Hey there .... first of all, helluva a job you're undertaking - go for it, and good luck. I'm sure you'll hit a few bumps along the way (hope you don't, but ...), and from what I've seen around here it is one of the best places to get help (save a few). I only have one thing to point out - using Windows 98 it will be very, very easy for somebody with a bit of savvy to hack apart your entire network. I'd suggest 2000, NT or XP or something besides 9x/ME for your server. If this network is going to be on the Internet (being a cafe I assume it is), you would be pretty exposed to attack from the outside (you know, to the people who are banned from the cafe for being jerks ....). It is possible to make a 98 network pretty secure, but it takes work.

Other than that, 98 should be a nice platform to work with - much easier than the DOS/Win3.11 days.

Good luck