Timothy
Parker Consulting Incorporated
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Windows networking Last column we installed Ethernet cards in the Windows 95 machines, and now we can configure them. Windows 95 machines are very easy to set up. Start by opening the Control Panel, and clicking on the Network applet. You should see the network card you installed previously. Ignore any protocols that are indicated in the Network window for now, as we’re going to overwrite them all. If you don’t see your network card in the Network window list, open the System applet in the Control Panel. Click on the Device Manager page tab, then select the Network Adapters item. The card you installed should be listed there. If not, reinstall. If there’s a warning symbol next to the card name, Windows 95 didn’t identify the card properly during the reboot. You will likely have to change the IRQ or memory address as they are conflicting. Assuming the network card is identified properly, the next step is to set up TCP/IP. From the Network applet, choose the Add option, then Protocol, then Microsoft, then TCP/IP. This is the easiest way to get TCP/IP on the system, although there are a number of alternative drivers you can use. Several third-party vendors offer complete TCP/IP suites, but the Microsoft drivers have the advantage of being included with the operating system. Windows 95 will ask for the distribution CD-ROM and load the proper software. You may get asked for an IP address now, or it may be delayed until you reboot, but this is where you need to give each machine a unique IP address. A window will appear that allows you to enter the IP address the machine has been assigned. Make sure you deselect the "Obtain an IP address automatically" button in order to enter an address. After you supply the IP address, you need to enter the subnet mask as well. For a class C IP address, the subnet is 255.255.255.0. There are five more page tabs within the TCP/IP configuration window, but you can ignore them all for a simple network. The only fly in the ointment is the Bindings, which tell Windows 95 which protocols to use to communicate over the network. I like to delete the IPX/SPX protocol to remove any problems with TCP/IP, but you don’t have to in order for the network to function properly. What you should do is check the Advanced page tab in the TCP/IP Properties window and make sure the box at the bottom is checked. This sets TCP/IP as the machine’s default protocol. One last task is to identify the machine you are configuring. From the Network applet, select the Identification page tab and give the machine a unique name, a workgroup name (it can be anything, as long as you use the same name for all machines on the network), and an optional description (usually the user’s name or a physical location). After that, reboot, and TCP/IP should be working. Of course, there’s no way to know the machines are working properly at the moment, as there is no network. Network installers work in one of two approaches. The first has all the machines configured first, then wire them together into the hub or switch for testing. I find it much more gratifying to configure just a few machines, wire them into the hub or switch and test, then go on machine by machine, testing as I go. This means that I identify problems a little faster, and gives constant positive feedback every time I get something working properly. Since this is my column, we’ll use the second approach for our test network! Since we have one or more Windows 95 machines already configured for TCP/IP, we’ll run network cables to the hub or switch location. The difference between a hub and switch is simple: a hub is a non-intelligent device which handles routing to all the devices. A switch does the same, costs a lot more, has some intelligence, and can perform different types of network tasks. For a small network, the cost of a switch is many times more than a simple hub, so we’ll use a hub. Place the hub wherever it will be out of the way and convenient for wiring to the network machines. Hubs are small devices and generate almost no heat, so I like to store them in a wall cupboard, a shelf out of the way, or mounted to a wall away from fingers and feet. Since you need to run a cable for each machine on the network, you will want to make sure there is ready access to walls or ceiling. A power cord to a wall socket is all that’s needed to power the hub up, and then run cables from your Windows 95 machines to the hub. To test the Windows 95 machines, open a DOS window. The ping command is the best way to test network connections, as it sends queries to particular IP addresses. Start by trying to reach the IP address of the machine you’re on (simply type "ping" followed by the machine’s IP address). You should see a bunch of messages telling you the amount of time it took to get a reply from that IP address. What’s the point of pinging your own machine? It makes sure the TCP/IP interface and network card are behaving. If you got error messages from this ping command, it means you need to check your TCP/IP setup and the network card to make sure they are configured properly. Don’t use the machine name to ping; use an IP address. After that works properly, try pinging one of the other machines you’re set up. Again, you should see messages about how long it took to get a reply. If you didn’t get a reply, and none of the machines on the network respond to a ping request, check the wiring and the hub. If each machine you’ve configured responds to a ping of its own address and not to any other machine on the network, either the hub is not working or the IP addresses are not in the same class. They should all start with the same set of digits, differing only in the device-specific numbers (the last digits in a Class C address). Now that the Windows 95 machines are behaving on the network properly, we can start setting permissions and passwords, then move to other operating systems. But that’s for the next column. |
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