Networking RedHat PC to Win2k PC + cable modem

[EmperorRob]

So here's what I need to do. Network my RedHat machine to my Win2k machine for file sharing purposes. I will also need one of my machines to access the cable modem. Both these machines have NICs in them. What other hardware will I need to get this running?

Now for the interesting part. My ISP wants me to pay extra to have extra PCs connected thru my cable modem. Will they be able to tell if I've got both connected? It's DHCP hookup.

 

[Kewlb]

Not sure if this will help too much but here is what I did:

I setup my linux machine (redhat 7.1 I believe) with two Network cards. I used ipchains and the ipmasq mod to configure ip forwarding on the NIC I plugged my cable modem up to. The second network card connects to a D-Link 8 port hub (uplink slot). This allows me to have all the rest of my machines connect to the internet and I did not have to use DHCP. (you could opt to setup NAT instead of ip forwarding but its a tad bit more complicated) as far as file sharing goes use samba. This works well with giving my linux box access to all my windows shares and vise versa. I am sorry I can not go into great detail with setting up samba but its not that complicated just find a document online or read the man pages. I hope this helps you.

 

[EmperorRob]

Thanks. Got my Samba doc, but I was thinking of using a router b/c I thought what you suggested might be more difficult.

 

[Kewlb]

using a router for what? your internet connection... isn't that a bit of an overkill when ip forwarding is an easy proccess to setup and a lot cheaper.

 

[EmperorRob]

I'd like to strike a good balance between cheap and easy. (there's a joke in there somewhere)

So you think i would be better adding a 2nd NIC?

 

[Patgod]

a simple cable router will do just fine for keeping your cable co. in the dark

if you shop right it wont be expencive either. and if you can use linux you should be able to work the router commands(if you had to)

if not, do a search for some...borrowed cisco notes

 

[Kewlb]

You can pick up a network card for like $20.00 (D-Link's work decent with linux) add that and ip masq will keep the cable company in the dark about other connections you have because all traffic is going to be passed through the linux machine so it will look as if only one machine is using the connection.

 

[EmperorRob]

So a 2nd NIC + ipmasq(what is that exactly?) + a crosslink cable from my RedHat pc to my Win2k pc and that's it.

 

[Kewlb]

here is a HOW-TO for ip masq: IP Masquerade HOWTO

but yes, that would work perfectly, you could also purchase a hub ($50.00 for a decent D-Link hub) to allow more machines to use the connection, but all you need is the 2nd nic and a crossover cable to the windows machine to get everything working correctly.