networking - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Smackre · 08-13-2003, 06:41 PM

best way 2 network about 6 or 7 pc that all run on diffrent windows from win 95 - xp.....i cant upgrade all 2 xp cuz some just dont have the ram. and dont wanna take xp off the one cuz xp is so easy 2 network with.....i used eithernet b4...and ive herd of normal phoneline networks.....and ive herd of other methods...i want file shareing....print sharing....and netsharing is possable.....but i wanna be able 2 make some comps only have sertain things...also some of the comps will need 2 run quickbooks but im ruing 2000 on some and 99 on 1 will they run 2 geter or do i need 2 upgrade my pc 2 sumtin that can run quick book 2k? any help will help.......im not looken for sumtin realy $$ cuz im small company but offerable but not sumtin that is a pain.....somoene lemme know how those phoneline networks work pls......are they easy 2 hook up and easy 2 us?.......my comany has 3 phonelines for calls and 1 indepent line for the net. lemme know if i use one of those 3 lines for calls will call be able 2 come threw that line or will it be rapted up alll the time....and when i network how should i set it up so all the quickbooks programs are acressing the same file ever time so that its updated on everone soon as someone changes sumtin.....pls help im half decent with comps just not good with networking.....

Pragma · 08-14-2003, 02:18 PM

Ok, I'd love to help you, but you're going to have do several things.

First, you need to use at some proper spelling. Punctuation is also a good thing to have, an ellipsis is not the same as a period. Also, how about some paragraph breaks? Now that I've vented, time to make my head hurt deciphering what you're saying:

You've got a variety of computers - running various OSes between 95 and XP - and you want to network them together. Piece of cake, buy a hub or a switch. Linksys 8 Port WorkGroup Hubs should do the trick just fine. About 60$ or so from the right place. Then you need to buy some Cat5 ethernet cable to string them all to the hub, and the physical aspect of your network is set up.

You want to share files? Well, this is where filesharing gets a little tricky - if you want to do access control, you're going to have a major headache (I'll get to this in a minute). You can share everything to all users as full access and you'll have no problems sharing files and printers. If you want to have permissions on the file shares, you can either go with domains (I really don't recommend it in your case), or you can do workgroup sharing, which means that you have to have a big list of usernames and passwords (and which computer the accounts were created on) - and make sure that the right people have the right passwords.

Next up: Internet access sharing. Piece of cake - set up one of the WinXP boxes with a modem, turn on the built-in firewall for it, and enable Internet Connection Sharing. Now, everything else on the inside of your network should be able to (by setting the network adapters to DHCP) connect to the internet.

Finally: Quickbooks programs accessing the same file so that it's updated whenever someone changes something. Now, I don't know anything about Quickbooks, but I'm inclined to say that this is flat out impossible. When a computer opens a file, it places a "lock" on it. This tells the operating system "hey, someone is using this file. if anyone else wants to look at it, it's read only." When the file is closed, the lock is removed.

If you place the Quickbooks file on a network share, you can have multiple people read it at once, but only one person will ever be able to write to it at once - and everyone else will have to close and reload the file to see the changes.

Lasereth · 08-14-2003, 02:53 PM

Yeah, I've never used Quickbooks, but I'm guessing that the only way for it to be edited by multiple people is one at a time. I may be wrong, but I don't see how it could be any different. Good luck!

-Lasereth

Smackre · 08-14-2003, 04:48 PM

tks sorry about my grammer. Im not the best speller and it was realy late. But tks for the help. Im not sure but i think quickbooks has a build in thing where u can network cuz alot of big buniness use it for a constant inventory program. That is what im tring but its gonna be hard cuz some of my comps cant use quickbooks 2k and some are on 99 and i think that dont work. tks for the help )

08-13-2003, 06:41 PM	#1 (permalink)
Smackre Addict	networking best way 2 network about 6 or 7 pc that all run on diffrent windows from win 95 - xp.....i cant upgrade all 2 xp cuz some just dont have the ram. and dont wanna take xp off the one cuz xp is so easy 2 network with.....i used eithernet b4...and ive herd of normal phoneline networks.....and ive herd of other methods...i want file shareing....print sharing....and netsharing is possable.....but i wanna be able 2 make some comps only have sertain things...also some of the comps will need 2 run quickbooks but im ruing 2000 on some and 99 on 1 will they run 2 geter or do i need 2 upgrade my pc 2 sumtin that can run quick book 2k? any help will help.......im not looken for sumtin realy $$ cuz im small company but offerable but not sumtin that is a pain.....somoene lemme know how those phoneline networks work pls......are they easy 2 hook up and easy 2 us?.......my comany has 3 phonelines for calls and 1 indepent line for the net. lemme know if i use one of those 3 lines for calls will call be able 2 come threw that line or will it be rapted up alll the time....and when i network how should i set it up so all the quickbooks programs are acressing the same file ever time so that its updated on everone soon as someone changes sumtin.....pls help im half decent with comps just not good with networking.....

08-14-2003, 02:18 PM	#2 (permalink)
Pragma I am Winter Born Location: Alexandria, VA	Ok, I'd love to help you, but you're going to have do several things. First, you need to use at some proper spelling. Punctuation is also a good thing to have, an ellipsis is not the same as a period. Also, how about some paragraph breaks? Now that I've vented, time to make my head hurt deciphering what you're saying: You've got a variety of computers - running various OSes between 95 and XP - and you want to network them together. Piece of cake, buy a hub or a switch. Linksys 8 Port WorkGroup Hubs should do the trick just fine. About 60$ or so from the right place. Then you need to buy some Cat5 ethernet cable to string them all to the hub, and the physical aspect of your network is set up. You want to share files? Well, this is where filesharing gets a little tricky - if you want to do access control, you're going to have a major headache (I'll get to this in a minute). You can share everything to all users as full access and you'll have no problems sharing files and printers. If you want to have permissions on the file shares, you can either go with domains (I really don't recommend it in your case), or you can do workgroup sharing, which means that you have to have a big list of usernames and passwords (and which computer the accounts were created on) - and make sure that the right people have the right passwords. Next up: Internet access sharing. Piece of cake - set up one of the WinXP boxes with a modem, turn on the built-in firewall for it, and enable Internet Connection Sharing. Now, everything else on the inside of your network should be able to (by setting the network adapters to DHCP) connect to the internet. Finally: Quickbooks programs accessing the same file so that it's updated whenever someone changes something. Now, I don't know anything about Quickbooks, but I'm inclined to say that this is flat out impossible. When a computer opens a file, it places a "lock" on it. This tells the operating system "hey, someone is using this file. if anyone else wants to look at it, it's read only." When the file is closed, the lock is removed. If you place the Quickbooks file on a network share, you can have multiple people read it at once, but only one person will ever be able to write to it at once - and everyone else will have to close and reload the file to see the changes. __________________ Eat antimatter, Posleen-boy!

08-14-2003, 02:53 PM	#3 (permalink)
Lasereth Knight of the Old Republic Location: Winston-Salem, NC	Yeah, I've never used Quickbooks, but I'm guessing that the only way for it to be edited by multiple people is one at a time. I may be wrong, but I don't see how it could be any different. Good luck! -Lasereth __________________ "A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

08-14-2003, 04:48 PM	#4 (permalink)
Smackre Addict	tks sorry about my grammer. Im not the best speller and it was realy late. But tks for the help. Im not sure but i think quickbooks has a build in thing where u can network cuz alot of big buniness use it for a constant inventory program. That is what im tring but its gonna be hard cuz some of my comps cant use quickbooks 2k and some are on 99 and i think that dont work. tks for the help )