Hi folks,

Im new to the IT world and as a little project im attempting to network my 3 home computers. One is a laptop running XP home, and the other 2 are desktops, one dual booting Fedora Core 6 and XP pro and the other running on Ubuntu 6.06.

My goal is simply to be able to share some files between them but my experience in the world of networks is limited to cabling and servicing various key systems.

My dsl modem is a speedstream 4100. I also have a broadcom v.92 56k modem and a Diamond supra express v.90 56k for when my boss needs me to do some voicemail programming. My router is a Dlink DI604.

I have a cisco 2501 too but i have no idea what to do with it.

I understand that time is precious so if any of my inquiries require more time than you have or are willing to give, a simple "read this" or "i learned by.." would be equally appreciated.

I read that samba is an app i can use for file sharing and I think I installed it sufficiently but other than that I know nothing about it and the info pages assume that you know a bit going into it.

Second question is about config. Again Im new to the IT world and while I know how to open a terminal and type 'ipconfig', the information Im given doesnt do me much good because while i have a notion of what it all means, theres nothing concrete on it up in my noggin so I cant say i really know what i need. I know my routers ip and subnet and stuff but im not sure what to do with it all. Ive spent alot of time 'looking' at things with 'help' and 'info' and 'ls' and 'view' and such but i dont do too much with it yet because i dont want to screw up what already does work. Ive gotten tired of constantly reinstalling hehehe.

So to recap:
How do I setup samba?
What do I need in config?

Thanks ahead for any and all help, i really do appreciate the time of others.

The Cisco 2501 is of no use to you, unless that is you want to learn Cisco routers. The 2501 can not be used for a DSL/Cable setup as it only allows for one ethernet connection.
For a simple network, you need a Cable/DSL Router with a switch built in. A very common one is the Linksys BEFSR41. For wireless, you can go with a Linksys WRT54G. This also has a switch built in, so you could have 4 wired computers and then wireless for laptops. You just need PCI adapters for desktops, and USB or PCMCIA adapters for laptops. The setup is very simple. I have set up tons of these networks for customers.

Take some time to read this article that explains the basic principles you'll need to understand regarding home computer networks. :thumb:

Mike

I would definately like to learn more about Cisco routers. I see and hear 'cisco' everywhere i go so at some point in the undetermined future i will be approaching their products.

Thanks for the link tek-mike. Imma goin there right after i finish this reply

Tech talk rocks. Telcom is such an odd industry where it seems you often get in by chance(or fate, whichever you prefer), learn by luck and determination and most of the help you get comes in the form of Sharpie chicken scratch on the wall of an MPOE.

Its nice to have a little consolidation of information now and then. I suppose a school might be good for that too, but who has the time anymore?

Cisco is basically THE name in enterprise networking. They bought Linksys a few years ago. Cisco stuff is not cheap and the learning curve can be steep. Everything programs with a command line. I took 2 years of Cisco classes in high school and we cover some Cisco in my networking classes here at UT.
If I can be of further assistance, please ask!
Jeff

My aunt works for Cisco Systems in Austin, TX. She did work in Dallas before she transferred.

Linksys is the child company to the larger Cisco Systems. Linksys is more of the small home-office/small office type of equipment while Cisco handles the larger-scale installs.

i fired up that 2501 just because we were talking about it and the fan was making an awful noise so not sure ill be using that one anytime soon if ever..theres a nice dent and looks like someone dropped it.
DOH!

hey topher,

which editor do you like for debian? i used gedit on the /etc/samba/smb.conf file and got

cannot open display: (null)

then im told look at help for options..?
not sure what to do with the options but its 1 am so ill take another whack at it tomorrow haha.

I haven't used Debian before, but for all other linux distro's I use vi. Simply because it works on almost all distro's and it is self explanitory.

In terminal type 'vi /etc/samba/smb.conf

If you are still going for the ubuntu , this will work.

I hope you haven't changed? Ubuntu is pretty good.

yeah i like ubuntu alot too. one of my computers has fedora6 so ill eventually take that beast on, but i thought ubuntu was like half debian half itself..?

vi is something ill have to invest some time into as well.

Uh, gang, we prefer that English be spoken in this forum! That stuff you guys are speaking souds like something that would be heard when playing a vinyl record backward.

UH-OH it's Ed!

Mind your grammar topher, this guys real picky about that stuff. :toothy:

so anyway that server iso i downloaded brings me to another common confusion i run into. now that ive downloaded all these file in this package, or any package for that matter, im not sure which of them i need to install. so far i like apt as a manager but again im not sure what to do with which files.

Whewwww, I thought maybe I was the only one. With all these new words flying around I keep Webster's on line pretty busy, as well as computer sites. All I want to do is adjust the relay and it works.

You have downloaded one iso, burn it, install it, learn command line. It will be very easy for you if you read the instructions from google very carefully

Oh you old timers with your hand-crank computers!
Just kidding!

EDIT: i goofed and posted twice. EDIT-

i get

root@0rd3r1nc:~# mkisofs -o cd_image.iso directory/
mkisofs: No such file or directory. Invalid node - directory/

this looks like a decent link to help elucidate this thread a little more for anyone interested
<a href="https://sheeped.com/2007/01/29/set-up-ubuntu-linux-lamp-server-in-minutes-part-1/">sheeped.com</a>

for a discussion on iso's try <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_image">wikipedia on iso's</a>

im attempting to set up a file share between multiple home computers with multiple OS's

might help if i made the directory first eh?

to learn more about linux commands try the
<a href="https://www.dsl.org/cookbook/cookbook_toc.html">linux cookbook</a>

just learned how to make links in case you were wondering. :thumb:

You might be able to grep some info on VI at the link below. That's a little *nix humor for you.
(Ok, very little, so don't BASH me for it. I GNU this would happen if I started typing about unix)

https://www.eng.hawaii.edu/Tutor/vi.html

yuck yuck :rolleyes: