karen

Thanks. I meant a router not a switch, hand was working faster than the brain! I will check out some of those books, I too have some dummy books but haven't check any of the newer ones out in a couple of years, previously they were pretty vague. Thanks for the welcome! Karen

First off, I would like to thank you all very much for your responses! This is the first site where I've been to where everyone has been so helpful. I agree that we all have to start somewhere and it makes it easier for "beginners" with people like you helping us out. I agree that a couple of networking books would be a big help, that is next on my agenda. I will look at the 16 port switch, that would probably be my best and leaves room for expansion. I will let DHCP do all the work. I hope to be gettting this project off the ground within a month. With your advice I hope all goes, but it's good to know that you guys will be there if I get stuck. Thanks again! Karen

Hi Madmanmcp, Thanks so much for the help. That was what I was looking for. So a router would do the trick, great. There will be a total of 9 machines yes, 1 will be used as a server for backups and a printer. At this time I do not know the lengths of the cables that I will need and yes all the machines have working cards installed. Would it be best to assign static IP's or let the router assign them using DHCP or woudl there much diffence? Thanks again!

We are looking for a secure network that is seperate from our LAN. We do not want to use wireless. This will be a simple network. The computers will be dedicated. Not everyone will be accessing the files at the same time. They will just need to be able to access each others files or possibly have files on a mapped drive on the server. I am trying to figure out what hardware I would need to connect everything. Thanks

Hi Steve, The OS will be Win2000. These are all desktop pc's. No laptops will be involved. Thanks Karen

Hi, I have been tasked with setting up a peer to peer network without the Internet connection. I will have 8 computers and one server that will be used for backups and print sharing. There will be no outside connection to the Internet. These computers obviously will all be in one room and set up for file sharing. I am looking for the best way to do this. I am kind of new to networking and would appreciate any help with what equipment (switch?) I would need and best way to configure this. Thanks so much