Networking but where to start?

[tech291083]

hi,

 

my friend has got a few pcs to play with altohough of lower specs but just lying useless for some time and we are thinking of making a network based on linux. we are both not techies and very new to linux and networking both. need a lot of help actually. we have in total 3 pcs. so one woold be the server and the remaining two would become clines. can any one please let me know as where to start to make this happen in terms of software and hardware requirements? i need a basic step by step guide on how to approch this. all the 3 pcs have more than 20 gb hdd and 256 mb ram so it looks that it will be enough for a low level network. m i right? now i have installed linux fedora core 5 on all of them. what i need is the guidance on server related software. so please guide me. cheers.

 

 

[moved from Networking by spinynorman]

[ianw1974]

What do you want to achieve with the server? Sharing files? Printing? Email? Web server? Linux only or Windows machines too?

 

There's a lot of options available :P

[tech291083]

well actually all of the things that you have mentioned. i am not using windows on any of the 3 pcs. in fact only fedora core 5 is installed on all of them.

Edited September 2, 2006 by tech291083

[arctic]

As you are using Fedora, this link shows almost every possible server setup: http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthrea...ht=howto+server

[Qchem]

How are you thinking of connecting them together? Wired or wireless? If it were me, I'd probably buy a wired switch as that will pretty much take care of most things.

 

Depending on your situation, a combined ADSL modem/router with dhcp server could be even better.

[jlc]

You can also check out http://www.howtoforge.com/ and look at stuff for CentOS or Fedora

 

http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect_setup_centos_4.3

 

http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect_setup_fedora_core_5

 

And as always a wealth of Red Hat info that applyes to Fedora and CentOS

 

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/

[SoulSe]

If all you want to do is share files, setup ssh and use sftp to log into each other's machines.

 

As for the server, there is a lot of guidance in this thread already, but if you just want simple DHCP, routing, Internet sharing and firewalling, look at Smoothwall. Although a cheap hardware router will do everything that Smoothwall can. If you need basic serving, go with a router. If you want to do print and scanner serving, web serving, game serving or the like, then use that third box.

 

I guess the best thing is to get stuck in and post as you encounter areas you need help with...