Start of a network

Hi, I’m planning on getting a network setup, but I’d like to write a report, to learn what’s going to be done and get a little understanding on what’s going to be going on.

So here’s my situation…

6 Pc’s and 2 Laptops all with windows XP.
We have 3 laser jet printers.

We would like to network all the computers together so we can file share and share the printers, I’m also looking at getting a high speed internet connection so all the computers can use the internet, as we wish to have a website.

So far I’ve looked around and read a lot about topologies and I think I may have found the best one. I would like to choose the star topology as I think it best suits the needs I’ve stated above. But I may be wrong?

Also I’ve read about TCP/IP, But I’m unsure as to is it a topology and would it be used in the star topology?

I have a few other questions, but I’ll try and surf around first to get my answers.
Any help or advice would be great.

Thanks.

 

Being you are setting up a peer-to-peer network of PCs running XP, you can save yourself a lot of time not worrying about getting too technical. Windows/PC networking has reached the level of market saturation that it's about as tricky as hooking up a VCR. The basic things you wish to do won't require all that much technical expertise. Running the cables will be the hardest part of the task. (And, yes, it will be a star configuration.)

TCP/IP is the protocol used by the internet, and the most often used one in Windows networking. It is built into XP, and will be the default networking protocol. For the equipment you wish to connect, an eight port broadband router and a wireless access point (WAP) should do the trick. That will leave you one extra port that you can connect another PC, or a multi-port switch if you need more. The printers will be connected to individual PCs, and shared for access by other machines on your LAN. If not already wireless capable, your laptops will need wireless cards. Multiple wireless cards can simultanesouly access the router thru the WAP. You could even put wireless cards in all the PCs, too, and just buy a 4-port wireless router with a WAP built in.

 

Thanks for your reply. It was really informative.
The reason I want to know so much is just because I don’t like being in the dark and have no knowledge on the subject. So I’m trying to learn a bit.

One thing that I’ve come across, would I have to configure an access router for the internet connection? And I’ve read something about access control list ACL to prohibit incoming traffic that was not initiated from within the network. Is there a site that has an example similar to my situation or could some one give me an example?

It may seem that I’m looking into things to much for a noob, but I really like to know.

 

A broadband router is really just a dedicated computer with a built-in switch that serves a couple of basic functions: (1) to direct data packets to and from the PCs connected to it and the internet, and (2) allow the PCs hooked to it to communicate with eachother. The router uses NAT (Network Address Translation) to direct traffic from the internet that your PCs request to the correct machine. A side benefit of NAT is that it works as a firewall, not allowing your PCs to be seen from the internet-- only the router itself is visible, and it doesn't contain any data, so...

 

seems to me you are security concious so I thought to post this link that may help you to better know and understand the goings on of internet/networking.
I hope this is of interest.

http://tor.eff.org/