Setting Up a Small Network

In the previous article we talked about the concept of peer-to-peer and client-server networking, the hardware and software requirements, and the physical layout of your network. Here, we’ll cover the steps involved in setting up a peer-to-peer and client-server network and how to share files, printers, and the Internet connection with other machines on your network.

1.

Peer-to-peer networkTo start with:

Install the operating system and the necessary drivers for your network card if you haven’t already on each machine. Here we have used Win 98 SE on each machine.

2.

Installing a network protocol

After this, you’ll need to install a network protocol on each machine. Protocols are used for machines to communicate with each other. Use TCP/IP, as you’ll need this later for accessing the Internet. In Win 98 TCP/IP is installed by default.

To add more, go to the Control Panel>Network and click on the ‘Add’ tab. This will open the ‘Select Network Component’ box. Select Protocol and click on Add. Next, choose Microsoft and the protocol you wish to install. For a small network, you may need to set up the NetBEUI protocol as well. This protocol is meant for small networks. After this, you’ll be prompted to insert the Win 98 CD, which will copy all the relevant files on to your hard disk. 

Next, you’ll have to assign each machine an IP address. For this, go to Control Panel>Network, choose TCP/IP properties, and specify an IP address. The valid range here is between 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255. 255. So, if you have five machines, you can specify a range from 192. 168.1.1 to 192.168.1.5.

3.

Enabling file and print sharing

The next step is to enable File and Print sharing on each machine for sharing files and printers across machines. 

For this, go to Control Panel>Network and click on the ‘File and Print Sharing’ tab. You’ll come across the ‘File and Print Sharing’ dialog box, enable both the options here. You’ll be asked to insert the Win 98 CD again.

3.

Creating workgroups

Now let us create a workgroup for our machines. A workgroup is used to group all the machines under one head for better manageability. For example, in an organization all the machines in the accounts department can be put together under the Accounts workgroup. 

4.

Creating user profiles

To create a workgroup, go to Control Panel>Network>Identification. In the Identification tab, enter a name for your machine and a workgroup. All machines in a particular workgroup should have the same workgroup name. 

Finally, to login and access the network, you’ll need to create users on each machine. For this, go to Control Panel>Users. You’ll come across the ‘Enable Multi-user settings Wizard’ that’ll ask you to enter a few details like username, password, and so on. You could create multiple users with this if you have more than one user accessing the same machine. This will create separate profiles for each user, which would include the desktop environment and e-mail settings. 

That’s it. The next time you login and click on Network Neighborhood, you’ll see all the machines on your network within the workgroup you just created. If you have multiple workgroups, you’ll be able to see them as well. Your PCs are connected together now and you can share files and printers with others.  

Sharing files and folders 

To share files or folders with other users on the network, right-click the folder you wish to share and select ‘Sharing’ from the context menu. In the dialog box that appears, click on ‘Shared as’ and specify a ‘Share Name’ for this folder. You can also restrict the level of sharing. For example, select Read-only if you don’t want others to make any changes to your files. Likewise, if you don’t want everyone on the network to access a particular folder, you can password-protect it. 

Sharing a printer

To share a printer across all machines, connect it to any machine on the network, and install its necessary drivers. Now, go to Control Panel>Printer. Here you’ll see the name of the printer you just installed. Right-click and select ‘Sharing’ from the context menu. Click on ‘Shared as’ and give a share name to this printer. Now to access this printer from other machines on your network, go to Start>Settings>Add printer. You’ll come across the Add printer wizard that’ll ask you to specify the network path of the printer. It’ll then copy all the necessary files from the machine on which the printer is installed.

Client-server networking 

The steps for configuring the client machines in this model are the same as mentioned above. So, we’ll cover the server part here. We’ve used Windows 2000 Server for this. You’ll probably need some external help with the installation as it may vary depending upon the application and the size of your organization. 

Install Windows 2000 server on a machine. After the installation is complete, you’ll come across the ‘Windows 2000 Configure your server’ wizard that helps you in configuring the server. It asks you for a few details like how many servers are running on your network, and also helps you in automatically setting up ADS (Active Directory Services), DHCP, and DNS services on your machine. All you need to do is specify a domain name for your machine. If you don’t install ADS, the Windows 2000 server will work like a Windows NT server. 

1.

Installing the OS

After completing the wizard, you’ll need to configure the DHCP server for specifying IP addresses to client machines on your network. For this, go to Start>Administrative Tools>DHCP Server. This will open up the DHCP manager. By default, you’ll see an IP address assigned to your machine here. You’ll need to change this and specify a static IP address. To specify a static IP address, go to My Network Place, right-click and select Properties. You’ll come across the Network and dial-up connection window. Here right- click the ‘Local area connection’ icon and select Properties again. This will open the Local area connection properties box, select TCP/IP and click on properties. Now change the IP address to what you wish to specify for your machine. 

You will also need to change the TCP/IP settings on the client machines. Go to Control Panel>Network>Configuration. Double-click on TCP/IP, and in the IP address tab, change the settings to obtain an ‘IP address automatically’.

2. Configuring DHCP server

After this, you need to create a scope for your network. Scope is a range of IP addresses, which the DHCP server will use to assign IP addresses to the client machines on your network. For this, open the DHCP manager, right-click the server name and select New Scope from the context menu. In the New Scope Wizard, enter a Starting and an Ending IP address for your network. Now right-click the server name and click on Authorize to start the DHCP server. 

3. Creating user profiles

on the server

Now you need to create users for your client machines to login to the server. For this, go to

Start>Programs>Administrative Tools>Active Directory Users and Computers. In the ‘Active Directory Users and Computer’ window, double-click the Users folder. Right-click on a blank area, in the right-hand window pane, and select New>Users from the context menu. Create all the users on your network like this. 

The steps for sharing folders and printers are the same as mentioned above. 

Sharing an Internet connection

There are two ways to share your dial-up Internet account. You can set up a proxy server on the machine your modem is connected to. Alternatively, if you are using Win 98 SE or Windows 2000, you can make use of their ‘Internet Connection Sharing’ feature. Here we’ll cover how to use these built-in features of both OSs. In peer-to-peer networking, you can use Win 98 SE to share your Internet account and Windows 2000 for client-server networking. For details on proxy servers, please read the October 2000 issue of PCQuest. The popular proxy servers are also available on the October 2000 PCQuest CD. 

In Win 98 SE 

Connect a modem to one of the machines and install its necessary drivers. 

Go to the Control Panel>Add/

Remove Programs>Windows Setup and double-click on Communications. You’ll come across a list of options here. Select Dial-up Networking from the list and insert the Win 98 CD when prompted. 

To create a dial-up connection, go to My Computer and double-click Dial-up Networking. You’ll find the ‘Make new connection’ icon here. Double-click this icon and you’ll come across a wizard that’ll guide you through the rest of the connection settings. 

Now to set up Internet Connection Sharing in Win 98 SE, go to Control Panel>Add/Remove programs. Click on Windows setup, double-click Internet tools, and select Internet Connection Sharing from the list. You’ll come across the Internet Sharing Wizard that will ask you to enter a few details like the type of Internet connection you are using. (For details, see Share an Internet Connection using Win 98 SE, page 103 PCQuest October 2000). Your gateway, that is the machine which has the modem connected to it, is now ready and you need to configure your client machines (See box Configuring clients for Net access)

In Windows 2000

Right-click ‘My Network places’ and select Properties from the context menu. In the Network and dial-up connection, right-click the ‘Make new connection’ icon and select New connection from the context menu. After this, you’ll come across the Network Connection Wizard. Complete the wizard, and you’ll see a new connection in the ‘Network and Dial-up connection’ window. Right-click the connection you just created and select ‘Properties’. Click on ‘Sharing’ and enable ‘Internet Connection Sharing’. Now click on Settings and in the Applications tab, click Add, and enter the following: 

Name of application: Internet Explorer 



Remote server port number: 80


Incoming response ports: 1-10000


Restart your machine and you are ready to share your Internet connection with other machines on your network. 

Neelima Vaid and Sanjay Majumder