Suggestions for network??

[smythre1]

Hi, I would like you opinions on how I should configure my systems and networks...
I have 2 computers:
1. 1700+,382 megs DDR,GF2 GTS, 3 hd's totalling 200gigs(98se OS)
2. 233mghz, 48megs pc100, onboard everything and 2 hd's totalling 8gigs(98se OS)
I have 2 connections:
1. adsl at about 1.2mbps using a Westell Wirespeed modem(USB or Ethernet)...........dynamic ip through ppoe
2. cable at about .4mbps using a Scientific Atlanta Webstar(USB or Ethernet)............dynamic as well...I think
I have many networking parts:
1. Siemens 4-port DSL\Cable router(10base100, switched it says...)
2. D-Link 8-port switch(10base100)
3. 5 Magnum H-50 4-port hubs(10base10 and not switched as well)
4. numerous 10base100 NIC's
What I would like is to move some of the hd's to the slower machine and designate it as a download computer using the cable line ( I realize the cable line is has less bandwidth for downloading but it's not trustworthy enough to game online with). I also plan to install XP Pro on the 1700+ as a dual boot. What I don't know is the best way to network it all...I'm a novice networker. Any suggetions greatly appreciated!
Edit....Would like to game and surf with the 1700+ and the dsl line and download files with thw cable.....

 

[JackMDS]

There is no best way there are few ways, and each one depends on what functionally you want to do with this impressive array of Hardware.

May be if you describe what would you like to do with it will be easier to give an answer.

 

[cmetz]

Connect the SOHO router to the DSL line. Put two NICs in machine (2). Connect one of those and machine (1) to the SOHO router, configured for a private address space (e.g., 10.0.0.x/24). Connect the second NIC of machine (2) to the cable modem. Both machines should use the SOHO router for DHCP on the address block connected to them. If the SOHO router will proxy DNS, point both at it. Make sure that machine (2) has its default route set to use the NIC to the cable, and only set to use 10.0.0.x/24 via the second NIC. And use a software firewall on machine (2), with everything locked up tight.

What this will accomplish is:
DNS goes through the DSL line; it's low bandwidth and latency+reliability sensitive.
Bulk downloads from machine (2) go via cable.
Machine (1) talks to the rest of the world via the DSL line only.
Machine (1) and machine (2) talk via local Ethernet.
If the Cable line goes down, change the default route on machine (2) to use the other NIC.
If the DSL line goes down, do the same, plus move the WAN port of the SOHO router to the cable line.

Does this sound reasonable for your problem?

 

[Xuttah]

10base10? 10base100?

Refresher:
I believe you mean 10BaseT and 100BaseT. The numbers indicate bandwidth (10/100), Base indicates a baseband transmission (vs broadband), and T is short for Tx, which indicates twisted pair cabling with RJ-45 connectors (typically). So 10BaseT is a baseband network running at 10Mbps on twisted pair (UTP or STP). Baseband networks are networks with a single transmission running at a time. Broadband networks can carry multiple signals at the same time. A typical LAN is a baseband network. The cable network (carrying many TV channels) is a broadband network.

I have to post this somewhere every now and then to remind myself.

 

[cmetz]

Actually, for standardized twisted pair Ethernet, there's 10BaseT (10Mb/s over 2-pair cat3), 100BaseT4 (100Mb/s over 4-pair cat3), 100BaseTX (100Mb/s over 2-pair cat5), and 1000BaseT. The "T" is not short for Tx, it's short for twisted pair. In the standardization process of fast Ethernet (100Mb/s), there were two camps and the WG let both come up with a standard. One wanted to reuse existing cat3 cable, using all the pairs and a lot of DSP trickery, and thus was born T4, while another wanted to use new cat5 cable and two pairs with simpler PHYs (taken from copper FDDI). The TX stuff hit the market first and was inherently a lot cheaper, and that's why T4 is mostly a footnote in Ethernet history. Interestingly enough, when 1000BaseT came about, the only real choice was to use all the pairs and a lot of DSP trickery, so in some ways the effort on T4 was not wasted.

 

[cmetz]

(footnote: 1000BaseT = 1000Mb/s over 4-pair cat5e)

 

[smythre1]

Thanx for the information...Now I just gotta do it!