NW Newbie's Proposed Network

[Sundog]

Attached is a draft of my proposed new home/office network (after I upgrade from Vista 32 Ultimate to Win 7 Ultimate, that is).

Any big holes/suggestions/etc.? I am new at setting up a network.

(I feel blessed and relieved to have found Eileen's Lounge and some of the old friends who have helped me so well in the past!)

[JoeP]

Nice network. I'd consider something like Windows Home Server – media server, backup and data recovery solution or a NAS device rather than a string of external drives.

Joe

[DaveA]

You might update your Word file, showing what is to be shared and how?

[John Gray]

Although nothing to do with your network, could I respectfully suggest that you save your Word documents in DOC format (not DOCX), to make them more accessible? Otherwise, only those recipients who have Office 2007 or have installed the File Format Converters program would be able to read them!

[Sundog]

Joe, all the external drives are an initial state until I transfer years/decades? of old files (from HDs extracted out of many old CPUs) onto a new big external drive. I will look into the Windows Home Server; thanks for the suggestion.

DaveA, not sure what you mean by your response, please elaborate?

John, yes, doc vs. docx, should have thought of that myself, will do in future.

[dasadler]

Attached is a draft of my proposed new home/office network. Any big holes/suggestions/etc.? I am new at setting up a network.

The only hole I see (and maybe I missed it) is that it appears to be a wired network without any wireless access point. I think a wireless access point is critical not only for future growth but to accommodate visitors and/or mobile devices (smart phones). Maybe the router is wireless but it was not stated and the picture did not show an antenna.

Otherwise, I agree with a previous poster who recommended NAS instead of external drives. Remember, too, that with Windows 7, you have the Homegroup feature that facilitates sharing of data & devices.

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Finally, where did you get all those neat little icons for the network? You have inspired me to document my own network.

[DaveA]

DaveA, not sure what you mean by your response, please elaborate?

The OLD external drives are connected to a computer, these will need to be shared for access to the other machines?
You have several computers, will you be sharing access to any or all of them?
Also any printer attached to the computers will they be shared for others to use?
I see at this time the printers are not connected to a computer so my question above does not apply at this time.

[Sundog]

dasadler: Re wireless, you didn't miss it; I failed to indicate that the 2. Cable modem is wireless as well as wired. I will add an antenna. Item 12. XPS also has wireless capability, but is connected via Ethernet. Actually, now that you remind me, I plan to communicate wirelessly from this network to my wireless-enabled TV.

Re icons, I created the drawing in Visio, using the Network & Peripherals shapes (as well as others). I Selected All and Pasted Special into a Word document for uploading to the Lounge.

DaveA: Yes, I want all drives and computers on the network to have shared access to each other. I want to share the printer shown attached to the Router (and everything else shown attached to the Router) among all computers. How do I accomplish these desires (and depict them properly)?

[StuartR]

...I want all drives and computers on the network to have shared access to each other...

I think you are setting yourself up for a disaster here.

In general the way to start planning a network is NOT to think about the physical layer, as in this diagram, but to think about the data. What data do you have, who needs to access it, how do you plan to protect it (backups, anti-virus, permissions...).

When you have this information you can then think about where and how you need to store the data, and where and how you want to access it.

Then think about what connectivity you need to achieve your goals.

[Sundog]

These are initial thoughts for a home-office network. Currently there is no network. I want all data and peripherals to be accessible to all computers on the network, with no or restricted access to any wireless user. Given that, how do I proceed? (That's why I asked for advice in my first post. Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough.)

[StuartR]

...I want all data and peripherals to be accessible to all computers on the network, with no or restricted access to any wireless user. Given that, how do I proceed? (That's why I asked for advice in my first post. Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough.)

For data, my advice would be to connect all of the storage to one "server". This could be a Windows Home Server, or just a reliable computer that you leave permanently on and that runs good backup and antivirus software.

For peripherals the answer is more complex, because it can be difficult to share peripherals. I would recommend a network connected printer that all computers can print to directly, but share the printer from your "server" so that guests can easily print. Other peripherals may be harder to share, and each probably has very specific sharing capabilities.

[Sundog]

Stuart, thanks for taking the time to respond. For data, I believe your response indicates that I should grab all data off all old external hard drives and migrate it to a drive attached to a Windows Home Server (for example). But how could I use my # 13 DockStar and its new 1 TB Go drive, which I planned to travel with, while still allowing the resident #4 Vostro access to data?

For peripherals such as my #7 old Epson flatbed Expressions scanner and my # 8 Plextor DVD burner, I thought an old available CPU running XP might have the best chance of having workable drivers. But how would I share input/output to these devices?

How do I find out if my existing Dell All-In-One is a "network connected printer?"

Is Windows Home Server a piece of software or hardware? Any suggestions for a good one, whatever it is?

It may have become painfully obvious to you that I am a complete novice at this. Rather than continue to try everyone's patience with bits and pieces of questions and answers, can you point me to a resource that would help me understand and do the whole thing?

Thanks!

[StuartR]

This is a VERY wide area, and I think we are going to have to tackle it in small bites.

Peripherals
Give us the exact model number of your Dell printer and someone will be able to let you know if it is a network connected device. A modern network connected ALL-IN-ONE can usually scan to any computer on the network, as well as supporting direct printing from all your PCs.

Most other peripherals cannot be shared, and you will probably have to connect the DVD burner to one computer and use that computer for all your burning.

I am not familiar with Dockstar and Vostro devices, so I hope someone else will be able to help you with those.

Windows Home Server
This was originally only available as a complete system. Read all about the functionality here. You can now buy the software and hardware separately and set it up yourself, but you would be better off buying something like this.

[Sundog]

A Vostro is a Dell CPU mini-tower. I have the Vostro 400, upgraded to 4 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT video card, DVD burner, NIC, RAID, etc.

DockStar is a Seagate external drive USB dock for Seagate FreeAgent Go drives that allows connection of 3 additional USB drives to it, thence to the CPU that the DockStar is connected to. Currently a 1TB Go drive lives there, and travels with my XPS laptop.

Re Windows Home Server, do I really have to buy another CPU? Everything under $500 USD that I found in a hasty search doesn't support Windows 7. Can I install WHS on my Vostro 400 resident machine and still use the Vostro for minor tasks such as email, Word, Excel, etc.?

[StuartR]

The external drives can either be moved to whichever system needs to use them, or can be served from your server when they are connected to it.

I don't understand the comments about supporting Windows 7. Windows Home Server includes the operating system and applications so you wouldn't use it on top of another Windows operating system. You would also not use the WHS system for normal applications, it is usually configured without a keyboard, mouse or monitor.

If this doesn't sound right for you then you can do what I do at home. Connect all the storage to one PC and use this as a "server". Make sure it has plenty of memory and install good antivirus and backup software. It takes more knowledge and care to get this working well, but it can be done.

[JoeP]

You should read up on Windows Home Server – media server, backup and data recovery solution. It can be much more than a file server. It has a growing set of addins that can be found at several enthusiast sites.

Joe

[DaveA]

I have a Older Sony VIAO XP box that I have added a 300 GIG drive. I also have my HP Laserjet 2100 and a Epson 1640 scanner attached. This is used as a server and the fact that the printer is connected by a parallel (Centronics) cable, and the Scanner is NOT supported on Vista or Windows 7.

We have three other desktops, two with Windows 7 and one with Vista, two laptops one with Windows 7 and the other with Vista. The Vista desktop also has a HP Deskjet 1220C color printer. These printers are shared and all machines have access to them. The HP 2100 is set as the default on most of the machines, another good reason to have it boot up first.

[Sundog]

I don't have enough subject matter knowledge to understand most of your comments.

No need for any further replies. Please lock this thread. I will seek other resources.

[StuartR]

Just as a closing comment.

Windows Home Server was designed for people who want a home network and don't have the subject matter expertise to set everything up correctly themselves.

Good luck with your home network, and do please come back and post a description of your final plan.