Small Office Network

Setting up a small office network has become quite simple and reliable since the coming of Windows 2000 operating system (OS). This OS blended the stability of the Windows NT architecture and extensive network capabilities with the intuitive interface of the personal computer OS culminating with Windows 98. With the arrival of Windows XP the OS does most the work by immediately recognizing nearly any device shared by any system across your Local Area Network (LAN).

A LAN can be two computers connected in your home or a thousand connected at an office building. A LAN enables linked computers to share files, data, applications and peripherals such as printers, scanners and fax services. More advanced features include the sharing of schedules, e-email services and conferencing through a Groupware server such as Microsoft Exchange or IBM's Lotus Notes. For our purposes we will be discussing a setup for a home office or small business that will include print sharing, files sharing and connecting to the internet.

Our sample small office LAN will be simple having a basic DSL / Cable internet connection, one Windows Vista computer [serv1] used as a workstation as well as a data repository for other workstations connected to the network, with a second Windows Vista computer [work1] connected to "serv1" and the internet via a router. The "serv1" computer will have a stand along hard drive for backups connected via a usb port and "work1" will have an inject printer connected to it. There will also be a laser printer with its own network card built in.

Print Sharing - printers a probably the main reason home office users set up a network along with sharing a high speed internet connection. This allows any computer connected to the network print to any printer shared on the network.

File Sharing - using one computer as a server, "serv1" in our example, provides a common storage area so several users can work on the same files over the network. The author of a file can also password protect a file so only authorized users can modify it.

Router - be sure your router has an uplink, internet or WAN port for connecting to the dsl / cable modem provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Your router should also have enough ports to connect all the system you will be connecting to your network. In most cases routers for home or small business will come with 4, 8 or 18 LAN ports. If you intend to connect an occasional laptop or wireless device be sure you get a router with wireless capabilities [covered in a future article]. Our screen shots show a Linksys WRT54GS Wireless Broadband Router.

Most ISP's reluctantly support the use of a router unless the device is part of a configuration they offer. In most cases the router will synchronize with the modem without requiring any special settings on your part. Connect the modem to the phone line or cable as instructed and wait until the indicator lights [power, modem and data] are solid. If the data light is not solid your modem is not receiving data packets over the Internet and you will not be able to connect; review the instructions or call your ISP before proceeding.

The router and computers are connected with a "CAT5" cable with "RJ45" connectors at the ends. These connectors are similar to the connectors on a phone cord but are much larger. Connect one end to a LAN port on the router and the other to the LAN card on your computer. Before connecting other computers we will check the connectivity and configure you LAN.

You router documents should include instructions for configuring your router. Most Linksys routers are accessed by typing the IP address 192.168.1.1 in the address bar of your browser using the password "admin" leaving the username blank. Unless your ISP requires you specify a username and password for your connection you can leave the default settings in place.

Internet Security - be sure you have virus and firewall protection before proceeding! Your router offers physical protection but by accessing site you are allowing access to your system by downloading files. This is particularly important if you are downloading email via Outlook, Outlook Express or some other mail client. Most manufacturers offer a 90 day trial version offered by McAfee or Symantec. If you are buying a system from a local vendor give them information for any existing account or as they set this up for you. When it's time to renew, or if you haven't chosen a security suite, we recommend BitDefender Total Security 2008.

Internet Connection - with your router and computer connected, the simplest way to connect to the internet is starting with "Internet Options" in the Control Panel. Open Internet Options and click on the "Connections" tab. Select the "Never Dial A Connection" then click on the "LAN Settings" button. Check the "Automatically Detect Settings" box. If you are going to be accessing email using a local email client you will want to use the "Setup" button on the "Connections" tab. Be sure you have the username and password for the email account you will be setting up.

DHCP Addressing - every devise on the network has an IP address represented by 4 sets of numbers. The same is true for URLs on the Internet. Behind http://www.yahoo.com is an numeric address associated with the name. On our local network we are going to let the router assign these addresses to the computers on the network. If we were using a Linksys router with the address shown above, two computers on this LAN might be assigned 192.168.1.101 and 192.168.1.102. Likewise your ISP assigns an IP address to your modem which may change periodically unless you signed up for a fixed or "static" address. A static address may be necessary if you want to use Remote Access or set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN), both subjects beyond the scope of this article.

Name Your Workgroup and Computers - our simple peer-to-peer network requires all computers that will be sharing resources are members of the same workgroup. While we're at it, you might want to give computers a meaningful name that represents their main function or user like our server ["serv1] and workstation ["work1"]. In Control Panel open "System" and click on the "Computer Name" tab. Type a unique name in the "Computer Name" field and a name that will be the same for all computers on your network in the "Workgroup" field, "office" workgroup in our example.

Follow the same steps for your other workstations. Keep in mind however, that with this peer-to-peer configuration any email accounts you set up will be stored locally; on the machine your setting them up on. On a master / slave or Client-Server Setup this would be different but they are beyond the scope of this article. In this peer-to-peer setup applications have to be installed on each workstations even though we can share files and data as well as peripherals.

Sharing Files - word processors, spreadsheets and the like store files in their default directories or in "My Documents" for each user on a machine. A better arrangement in this multiuser file sharing environment is to crate directories with a better business logic in mind. So let's say we crate a new directory on "serv1" of the "C" drive and call it "sharedfiles" so we have a local path of "c:\sharedfiles" and a network path of "\\serv1\c:\sharedfiles" that we will share with all the systems in our workgroup or other computer as the case may be. To create the directory use "My Computer" expand the "C" drive, then in the file menu click "New" then "Folder" and name it "sharedfiles." While in My Computer, select our new directory, sharedfiles, and right click on it. In the popup menu click on "Sharing and Security." In the new dialog box check the "Share this folder on the network" box and click "OK." Unless you change the name the default name of the folder will be "sharedfiles" and will be visible to all computers in the workgroup.

Most applications will allow you to change where they look for files. WordPerfect, for example, lets you select a new default file location by gong to the "Tools" menu, select "Settings" then in the dialog box that appears, click the "Files" icon. To the right of the "Default Document Folder" folder field there is a folder icon you can click to find the "sharedfiles" directory. Select that and thereafter the application will look in that directory for files as well as saving documents to that directory. In WordPerfect on the "work1" computer you would open the dialog box the same way and scroll down to "My Network Places," expand it and subdirectories "Entire Network," "Microsoft Windows Network" then "office" [ our workgroup name ] where you will then select "sharedfiles."

Mapped Network Drive - some database related application require that the data appears as if on a local drive even though it resides on another system. To accomplish this we map a local drive to a location on the network, in our case a shared directory on "serv1." Using "My Computer" on "work1" select "Map Network Drive" from the "Tools" directory. In the dialog box you are asked to select a drive letter. You should avoid "A" through "F" to avoid confusion with what the system might use or may be using. Let's use "S" that will remind us of shared. Use the "Browse" button as we did above to find "sharedfiles" on "serv1" and be sure to check the "Reconnect at login" box.

Workstation Ink Jet Printer - if you have a workstation that will be doing most of the graphics that is where you would want to connect the ink jet printer. You want to avoid using the resources of "serv1" which already has some resources consumed as other systems access files. We can share this printer so "serv1" or others on the network can print to it. With the printer installed on "work1" use the "Start" menu or "Control Panel" and go to "Printers and Faxes." Right click on the ink jet printer and select "Sharing." Check the "Share as" box and type a meaningful name in the field, maybe "wk1color."

Now you can install the drivers for the ink jet on the other computers on the network. From "serv1" or other computer go to "Printers and Faxes" then "Ad Printer." Click the "Next" button in the dialog box that appears and select "A network printer..." and click "Next" again. Check the "Browse" box and click "Next" then select the printer "wk1color" on "work1" from the list and finish.

Network Printer - small office laser printers with their own network cards are quite affordable these days with offerings from Okdata, Brothers and HP in the $200 to $400 range. They connect to the network with a network cable just like a workstation. As a stand alone on the network they don't use the resources of a server as connected printers do. Setups differ depending on the installation software. Setup from other computers on the network will generally be the same as installing a shared network printer. Go through the "Ad Printer" routine and look for this printer.

Remote Backup Drive - Western Digital, among others, has a variety of stand alone hard drive ranging from around $70 to $170 in sizes from 80GB to 200GB. They connect through a USB port and are recognized by the host computer and given a drive letter. In our example we are guessing "serv1" would give it a drive letter of "F" so the network path would be \\serv1\f:\.

Since all our files are on "serv1" we would simply have our backup software backup to drive "F" from the server. However, we may have graphics files on "work1" that aren't stored on the server. In this case, we would want to share the "F" drive in the same manner we shared the "sharedfiles" directory above. We may also want to ad a new directory on "F" named "wk1back" giving us a network path of \\serv1\f:\wk1back. From "work1" map a new drive, say "U" for backUp, and direct the backup program on "work1" to the "U" drive.

Conclusion - there are different ways to accomplish many of the above tasks and there are additional precautions that can be taken to implement security. So, while this may suffice in a home office you may want to assign different "permissions" to users in an office environment.