How to Network Red Hat Linux and
Microsoft Windows
Last updated: 9/7/02
 OUR
NETWORK. Our home/office/shop network consists of several
computers at any one time in my Office/Shop and two computers used my
Wife and Son, which are located in their respective offices. All
are networked on a 100BASE-TX Ethernet local area network (LAN) with
an SMC7008BR combination broadband
router/seven-port Ethernet switch. The router also provides
shared access to the Internet via a cable MODEM. The router has
a DHCP
server and is used by all of the PCs used as workstations to manage
IP addresses. The PCs on the network are running Windows 98, Me,
and 2000 Pro operating systems. Other computers with Window NT
Server (old server used for support) and XP operating systems are occasionally
introduced into the system. The network is usually configured as
a peer-to-peer Windows network with workgroup name of WORKGROUP. The
Linux server is built from used parts (one does not need a speed demon
for a server on a small LAN; save that for the user PCs) and was added
to the network primarily as a learning testbed, to see how Linux stacks-up
as a small business/home office workgroup server as compared to various
Windows versions and Novell, and as a development system for our web
sites, which are running on a remote FreeBSD unix system maintained by
a hosting service. The web sites employ an Apache web server and
run several large scripts that use php and MySQL. Also, my Son
might try to "barrow" the Linux machine (when I'm not looking)
for a game server at a LAN party.
ROUTER CONFIGURATION. This
configuration can be done after the Linux install. Many LAN/routers
use 192.168.100.x or 192.168.0.x. Ending the network IP with 0 and the Broadcast
with 255 is a common practice. The Gateway and Primary DNS were assigned
the IP of my router. It is the same IP that one uses to view the router's
HTML interface with a browser. The router has a DNS proxy server. These
settings will be different if the firewall/router is installed and Linux
host is going to perform the router NAT function. The router is configured
like so:
The last 6 digits of the MAC
address were changed to X's in the picture so as not to make them public
for possible(?) security reasons. It is important that the Linux
host static IP address does not fall within the scope of the DHCP server
and that it be on the same network segment (192.168.123.*) as the router
and PC's. On can determine the Ethernet adapter's MAC in RH 7.3 by
opening a terminal window (see below) and typing ifconfig. HWaddr
is the MAC address.
Linux could be setup with its firewall, a second network
adapter, and an Ethernet switch
or hub to perform the broadband router function, but a router does it
better for about the same cost and uses less energy. Linux could also
be setup in a similar manner, but with a MODEM instead of a second network
adapter, to share a dial-up Internet connection. Samba could be run
with a dynamic IP address obtained from the router.
SECURITY
AND BASIC NETWORK CONFIGURATION. As all users of the system
are trusted, security is not a problem (not really required). However,
I did not want novice users to "accidentally" access those
parts of the Linux host that would normally be managed by root. Simplicity
is a goal. At this point, I do not plan to attach a printer to
the Linux computer or print to a network printer on another computer
from the Linux computer. I decided to have one directory that could
be shared by all users and one directory for each user that only that
user could access. User directories would be restricted with a password. This
configuration is pretty much what Red Hat has outlined in the RH
Customization Guide. This article elaborates on that guidance
and stresses salient points that might other wise be overlooked. So,
here is Samba simplified:
 Purchase
the pdf version of this article
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