Networking The Black Tower
After the PCs were up and running, the next chore was to get them networked together. I had already mounted two hubs, and a wireless access point into the Tower, so I was ready to get the PCs talking to each other and the rest of the LAN.
The first task was to make sure all of the network cards were functioning. I had no trouble with Alpha, Beta and Gamma. Beta and Gamma had old ISA cards and the Linux ne driver module found them right away at the usual I/O address. Alpha has a Linksys PCI card which uses the ne-2K module. The only trick here is to be sure to boot from a floppy. Otherwise the Win98 PCI controller takes over and the Linux driver gives a "resource or system busy" error message.
The Delta machine had ISA slots, so I found another of the old network cards and ne found it right away. The Sigma machine, being a newer Compaq, had PCI slots and some sort of generic network card. None of the usual University Linux modules could make it work. This sometimes happens; the cards were not even in existence when Linux kernel 2.0.34 was compiled. Eventually I found another Linksys PCI card and ne-2k took care of it.
The next step was to assign IP addresses. These were assigned from 192.168.0.122 to 192.168.0.127 as these addresses are in the router's allowable space. I added these to each manchine using the ifconfig and route commands placed in the /etc/rc Liunx boot-up file. Now all of the PCs come up network ready at their assigned IP addresses.
I decided, for now, to reserve 192.168.0.125 as the server address for any PC to be accessible from the Internet. This is a convenience because it is easier to change the IP address of the PC then it is to re-program the router's virtual server page. The D-Link router that connects our network to the Internet has been in use for two or three years, and I like its straightforward configuration screens. But it is tedious to change things.
I have also been thinking of a way to experiment with changing Tower PC IP addresses remotely. Unlike Windows machines, a Linux PC can have its IP address changed at any time. So there might be some way to dynamically change the machine that it accessible from the net, depending on the purpose.
With all the machines networked, the hubs filled up with CAT 5 cables fast! In fact it is quite a mess on the back of the Tower. I have a bag full of big cable ties so as soon as everything looks stable, I can begin to clean up the wiring.
Right now the laptop is connected by cable to the Tower, and so is the D-Link router. That violates the original intent of having just one network cable. But I had also installed a wireless access point on the Tower. I have a wireless USB adapter for the laptop, but I first need to upgrade to Windows ME and I haven't started that yet. The plan is to get the laptop and wireless access point on the Tower communicating with the wireless router that is currently (also) cabled to the D-Link. If you think that sounds complicated, it is, and is became the cause of much grief!
So far, everything was going according to plan, but then I tried to set up the wireless access point...
The first task was to make sure all of the network cards were functioning. I had no trouble with Alpha, Beta and Gamma. Beta and Gamma had old ISA cards and the Linux ne driver module found them right away at the usual I/O address. Alpha has a Linksys PCI card which uses the ne-2K module. The only trick here is to be sure to boot from a floppy. Otherwise the Win98 PCI controller takes over and the Linux driver gives a "resource or system busy" error message.
The Delta machine had ISA slots, so I found another of the old network cards and ne found it right away. The Sigma machine, being a newer Compaq, had PCI slots and some sort of generic network card. None of the usual University Linux modules could make it work. This sometimes happens; the cards were not even in existence when Linux kernel 2.0.34 was compiled. Eventually I found another Linksys PCI card and ne-2k took care of it.
The next step was to assign IP addresses. These were assigned from 192.168.0.122 to 192.168.0.127 as these addresses are in the router's allowable space. I added these to each manchine using the ifconfig and route commands placed in the /etc/rc Liunx boot-up file. Now all of the PCs come up network ready at their assigned IP addresses.
I decided, for now, to reserve 192.168.0.125 as the server address for any PC to be accessible from the Internet. This is a convenience because it is easier to change the IP address of the PC then it is to re-program the router's virtual server page. The D-Link router that connects our network to the Internet has been in use for two or three years, and I like its straightforward configuration screens. But it is tedious to change things.
I have also been thinking of a way to experiment with changing Tower PC IP addresses remotely. Unlike Windows machines, a Linux PC can have its IP address changed at any time. So there might be some way to dynamically change the machine that it accessible from the net, depending on the purpose.
With all the machines networked, the hubs filled up with CAT 5 cables fast! In fact it is quite a mess on the back of the Tower. I have a bag full of big cable ties so as soon as everything looks stable, I can begin to clean up the wiring.
Right now the laptop is connected by cable to the Tower, and so is the D-Link router. That violates the original intent of having just one network cable. But I had also installed a wireless access point on the Tower. I have a wireless USB adapter for the laptop, but I first need to upgrade to Windows ME and I haven't started that yet. The plan is to get the laptop and wireless access point on the Tower communicating with the wireless router that is currently (also) cabled to the D-Link. If you think that sounds complicated, it is, and is became the cause of much grief!
So far, everything was going according to plan, but then I tried to set up the wireless access point...
posted by Documatrix at 2:22 PM
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