[thelist] Internal Networking: 5 Q's

[Burhan Khalid]

Let me see if I can take a crack at some of these...

1) Does anyone know if I can make a connection to the default
Win2KPro web/ftp/mail server? (I think it's personal web server) from
another machine?

<answer>

If by connection you mean can I see the web pages being served, then by all 
means you can! As long as the machine has an IP address, and it on a network 
(either internal (as in with another PC via a hub), or on the internet). 
Note, however, that PWS has a user limit (5 I think), and once a 6th user 
tries to logon, the server will displpay error pages.

As far as mail/ftp is concerned, I can only give you advice on FTP servers. 
I have yet to setup a mail server, although I presume that any one of the MS 
products shouldn't be too hard to setup. An FTP server is accessible given 
that (1) it is running (started) (2) the machine has a valid IP address (3) 
the machine is on a network (again, either internal or external) (4) is 
acessible (firewall, gateway, IP blocking, etc.). As long as these 
conditions are satisfied, you should be able to serve files from your FTP 
server. The default port for FTP is 21, so if you machine has both a web and 
FTP server running, then you would access the ftp server by the following 
method(s) :

ftp://127.0.0.1:21 (IP Access from Web browser (anonymous access))
ftp://localhost:21 (Machine name from Web browser (anonymous access))

ftp://username:password@127.0.0.1:21
(IP Access from Web Browser (username/password syntax)

Note(s) :

In older versions of IE, the ftp://username:password syntax might not work. 
In newer IE browsers (5.x+), you can eliminate the password portion, as in 
(ftp://username@127.0.0.1:21) and the brower will popup a box that asks for 
your password. This is recommended method. Since the address that you type 
is stored in history, and anybody who sits on your computer after you have 
access your FTP server, can simply hit the History button to find your 
password (using the older username/password method).

If your computer is on the internet (for example, with a dialup connection), 
then you IP address will change.

</answer>

2) If not, is Apache the right choice of web servers to install
considering the OS is MS? (I only want to test from my other machines
on my home network, not serve to the web at large.)

<answer>

By far, Apache is the most used HTTP server on the Internet. If you plan on 
testing with ASP, however, I would suggest NOT installing Apache, since it 
does not provide native support for ASP. You can have ASP access with third 
party software, but why do that when almost every MS HTTP Server (even PWS), 
provides native support for ASP. You can have multiple HTTP servers running 
on the same machine. This requires giving each server a different port to 
listen to. By default, HTTP servers listen on port 80. You can, for example, 
have your PWS/IIS be the default server, and have Apache installed to listen 
on port 8070. Then when you would like to see the pages being served by 
Apache, you would just append the port number at the end of your URL, like 
so :

http://127.0.0.1:8070

</answer>


3) I've got the full version of CFServer running on my PC, will I
encounter config nightmares due to my beginner's knowledge level of
networking if I do?

<answer>
Can't help you here. I have no experience with CFServer or CF for that 
matter.
</answer>

4) Does anyone know all of the above assumes that I can serve to
another machine, wether or not IPNet Router will let me address my PC?

<answer>
Not quite sure what IPNet is, but I tell you this much. If each machine has 
a valid IP address, and is pingable from the other machines, then you 
shouldn't have any problem access files, provided that you have a correct 
server setup.
</answer>


5) And if so, can someone suggest the setup?

<answer>

  For a small home network, I would suggest getting one of those home 
networking kits, which usually contain :

(4) Network Cards
(1) Network Hub (4 port, generally)
    Cabling (CAT 5, most of the time)
    Software for OSes (mostly Windows, but some are available for *nix)

  The setup from here should be pretty easy. If you have Windows XP, I 
believe it has a home network setup wizard/utility that will help you out.

  If I have totally misread/misunderstood your question, my apologies!
</answer>

Regards,
Burhan Khalid

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