Query about connecting Computers 1

[cheguvera]

Hi Guys,

I am not a hardware/networking person, so have one elementary question.

I have 3-4 computers at home. One P4 PC with Redhat Linux and databases on it. One XP Professional Laptop, one old PC with Win ME.

If I want to connect these computers, so that VB/Java from the Win-ME PCs can see the database on the Lunix machine and I can transfer files from the XP laptop to other 2 computers by FTP (or something like that).

Whats the best way to do it?
Do I need to have special hardware/OS knowledge for it?

I use assemble/repair PCs few year back, so I am comfertable with elementary hardware components, but not much on networking.

Please guide. Usefull links are more than welcome.

Thanks in advance.

 

[wires]

Install 10/100BaseT network cards in all the computers (if they don't already have them).

Connect all the network cards to a hub or switch with cat5 or better cables.

Set up Samba on the Linux PC to allow it to share files with the Windows based PCs.

This might help:

http://www.reallylinux.com/docs/basicnetworking.shtml