Home Network with dedicated server...

[Enri]

Hi people!

I've been dredging the FAQs, newbie-guides and discussion groups for home network related info but can't quite find the answer to my question(s)...

SO my question: Can I run a Linux PC as a dedicated server in a home network (just for ethernet, not internet) with several other machines (2 running Win98 and 1 running 2000) in the network? Is it possible to network Win98/2k with Linux?

I have Caldera OpenLinux 2.2 (old I know - been away a while!).

Why do I want to do this? Well that brings me to another question I suppose, will it take a load off my the other machines in the network by having a dedicated server? If so, then this is why I want to do it, to make the network run more efficiently. If it's a waste of time, please tell me!

Thanks for being patient and reading this, and thanks in advance for any help.

cheers,
Enri

[SpookyFox]

What is gonna be the purpose of the dedicated server? E-mail? Webpages for the internal network? File sharing? Quake? Internet? Gotta have some more information here...


Take a load off how? I know that if you have a dedicated server running Quake games, then yes, it'll take a load off. It IS possible to network Win98/2K and Linux, without a doubt. The amount of work required is dependant on what you want to do with the server.

Spooky

[Enri]

File sharing and maybe games sometime... All I want is to set up one PC to sit in a corner and churn away whenever it needs to network-wise to allow the other machines to get on with other tasks.

Am I wasting my time or is there something to be benefitted from doing this?

Cheers Spooky,
Enri

[mdwatts]

Have a look at Caldera's knowledgebase and you should find lots of info on setting up different servers including 'routers'.

http://support.calderasystems.com/support

[Stackrat]

Originally posted by Enri:
File sharing and maybe games sometime... All I want is to set up one PC to sit in a corner and churn away whenever it needs to network-wise to allow the other machines to get on with other tasks.Since you're not going to be using this as a routher or a NAT, then setting up another machine on your network will *NOT* relieve any load from your other workstations. In fact it will probably ADD a very small amount of load due to added SMB broadcasts (assuming you run SAMBA for file sharing), etc.

The key to a quick network is to keep as few machines on it as possible!