Home Business IT - Intranet and Networking

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Home Business IT - Intranet and Networking

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10. Networking: The Intranet

If your small business is just you, and yours is the only computer being used, you may skip this section. On the other hand, if you have more than one computer in the office or home and would like to be able to share files, programs and peripherals, read on.

Networking for a small and/or home-based business is not complicated, and requires little in the way of elaborate equipment beyond what you probably already have. A network is really nothing more than two or more computers connected in some way that allows them to share information. Figure 10 on the previous page depicts a simple network typical of that found in many home-based and small businesses. In the old days, networking required special hardware. Today, all that is required is a router and cables (unless you’re going the wireless route – in which case you will need special hardware – refer to the previous section). In addition, most modern operating software – such as Windows XP – has built-in networking capability.

Essentially, all that is required (other than the modem for Internet access) is the router, which is installed between the modem and the networked computers. From the router, Ethernet cables connect the individual computers together and to the World Wide Web. (You’ll notice that the computer actually hooked up to the printer is labeled “server,” while the others are labeled “client.” We’ll get into that in just a moment.)

We are assuming for the moment that your computers, like most built in the last three to four years, already has a network adapter. (You should ascertain this when purchasing computer equipment.) If not, you’ll need to install one – your local computer store or consultant can help you with this, but if you’re comfortable opening up your system yourself, installing these adapters is easy.

If you’re not sure as to whether or not your computer has a network adapter, go to the “start” menu in the lower left-hand corner of your Windows desktop, click “Control Panel, then choose “Network and Internet Connections”

This will bring up the Window XP Network Connections window. If it appears , your computer is ready for networking. If it’s blank, you’ll need to install an adapter.

Assuming your computers are set up for networking, the first step is to make sure the cable that runs out of your model is connected to your computer’s networking adapter. The networking jack looks just like the Ethernet modem jack, but is identified by a symbol

Before doing anything, make sure your modem, router, all computers and any peripherals are powered off. Otherwise, serious damage to your equipment could occur.

Step 1 is to connect the modem to the router. Your router will have several ports; the correct one for the modem connection is labeled Internet, WAN or WLAN.

Step 2 is to plug each computer into the remaining ports of the router (typically identified by number) using additional cables.

If the networked computers are in different rooms and you don’t want to go with wireless, you have a couple of different options. The easiest – if not the neatest – is to simply get chords of sufficient length and run them from the router to whichever room the computer is located. Ethernet cables are available in lengths of up to 50 feet, which is sufficient for most homes.

If you don’t want cables running along the floors of your home or place of business, you might consider trying a network extension kit. This device plugs into the electrical outlet in the wall and allows you to plug an Ethernet cable into them. (Note: these will not work with an extension chord or power strip.) Essentially, you will need one of these devices for each room in which you have a computer. One end of the cable goes into the appropriate router port with the other plugging into the port on the device. In the room where the networked computer is located, you’ll run a second Ethernet cable from the device to the networking jack in the computer.

Sharing Printers and Programs

Now that all your business computers have access to the Internet, you’ll want to give them all access to the “server” – in other words, the business’ main computer, which is probably yours.

In the context of a small or home-based business network, the “server” is the computer that contains the programs and is attached to the peripherals that are to be shared. As such, it should be the most powerful computer on the network. You may wish to add a second or external hard drive with partitions for each employee for file storage and backup.

Windows XP makes this process exceptionally easy through the use of a wizard. In case you haven’t encountered this term before, a “wizard” is simply a feature of many software applications that use a series of dialogue boxes that pose “yes/no” questions, which you answer by clicking on the appropriate button or filling in information. Based on your answers, the wizard creates the document or completes the task for you.

The first step is to call up the Windows control panel as shown in Figure 17a. This time however, you’ll click on the icon labeled “Network Setup Wizard” (it looks like a while house with a red roof with a pipe sticking out the bottom connecting to what looks like a water main). This brings up the Network Setup Wizard as shown in Figure 16a on the following page.

As you go through the wizard, the only other vital piece of information you’ll need (assuming you have everything hooked up and ready to go) is for the dialogue in which you are asked about a connection method

You’ll then be asked to name the various computers on the network as well as the network (workgroup) itself. Finally, you’ll be asked whether or not you want to turn on file and printer sharing. Make sure the top button is selected, then click on “Next.” The next dialogue will ask you to confirm the information you’ve entered so far. If correct, click the “Next” button again. At this point, you’ll probably want to go have a cup of coffee; the process will take about five minutes or so.

If all the computers on your network are also running Windows XP, you can select the bottom option. Otherwise, you’ll have to run the wizard on the other computer(s) on the network. In either case, you’ll need to restart your computer in order to activate the network and make your printer available to other users.

Once you’ve restarted your computer and completed the process, a “SharedDocs” folder in “My Network Places” under the Windows menu should be visible on each networked machine.

1. About Sharing Programs

Legally, if you have multiple users of a given software application, you must either purchase a separate copy of the application for each user, or – if all clients on a network are using a single copy of the application that is stored on the server – you must purchase a site license. These are typically sold in groups of five, ten, twenty, fifty and one-hundred, and allow multiple users to utilize a single copy of a given application program.

Here too are ways to save substantial amounts of money. One of the obvious ways would be to require other users to access the application on your machine. This may be practicable with an application that is used on an occasional basis, there are some applications that are simply necessary to the day-to-day operation of the business. Two of the most common software applications used by 90% of all business are Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop.

MS Office consists of a suite of software tools that include an extensive word-processing application, a spreadsheet program and a tool for creating graphic presentations. New, MS Office has a price tag that ranges from $400 for the standard version to $680 for the deluxe version. If you own an earlier version, you can purchase the newest version as an upgrade for around $250. An older version (2004) will run about the same price, if you don’t own it already.

Adobe Photoshop is a massive, highly complex image editing application that is considered the industry standard. It is indispensable for any business that does any sort of graphic design and publishing. The new version is priced at $570, while older versions go for around $250.

If your business is a non-profit organization or related to education, you may qualify for “academic pricing.” This is a steep discount (sometimes as much as 65%) off the full price made available to teachers, students, school administrators and other education employees. To be eligible, you must typically submit a copy of your school’s ID, a teaching certificate or a pay stub from the school district at which you are employed. The only real difference between an “academic version” and the “full version” of a software application is that the “academic version” does not usually include the documentation in printed form (it is however available online as a “.pdf” document).

If you don’t qualify for an academic discount and purchasing even older version is beyond your current means, you should definitely know about Open Office and GIMP.

These programs are free-ware versions of Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop respectively. Open Office (available at http://www.openoffice.org) has virtually all of the functionality of MS Office, can be used to edit MS Office documents and will save documents in MS Office-compatible formats, allowing for easy exchange. It lacks a grammar check feature, and some users have complained of some incompatibility issues when it comes to bulleted and numbered lists. Open Office is also reported to use more memory and run more slowly than MS Office. These are minor drawbacks however, considering the price ($0!), and development is ongoing.

GIMP, or the General Image Manipulation Program, is a “raster graphics editor” – in other words, it allows the user to edit photos and even create images, then save them in the most common graphic file formats (.jpg, .gif, .png and .tif). Like Photoshop, the user can remove cosmetic imperfections from photo images, draw with various sizes and types of virtual “brushes,” change image colors, add text, composite images with the use of paths, layers and channels as well as add effects.

On the down side, GIMP lacks support for many “plug-ins” that Photoshop users depend on. The magnetic lasso tool is not as precise, and the free application lacks the undo history “snapshots” that persist between sessions in Photoshop. Nonetheless, if you can live with these limitations, GIMP is an excellent alternative to Photoshop.

Both GIMP and Open Office are available for Windows, Mac OS (“Classic” and X) and Linux.

Beyond these two, the kind of specialty software your business may require will depend on the product or service you are offering. Again, an online search will assist you in determining and locating specific applications you may need.

Comparison shopping is a good idea, since software package prices can vary widely between the various resellers. Also, don’t hesitate to use an older (up to two years) version – most applications have “backward compatibility,” meaning that you’ll be able to read and edit a document created by a newer version of an application using an older version.

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