Bruce LeGrande wrote in a message to All:
 BL> Let me get this straight, and make sure I'm not totally
 BL> befuddled. 
 BL>    If I'm going to have 5 seperate computers (all PC) in
 BL> various parts of the house; no more than a MAX of 100'
 BL> apart, with a total network distance of less than 500', then
 BL> 10base-2 (BNC) should be more than sufficient, and as I
 BL> understand it - all I will need will be a network card for
 BL> each computer (maybe a parallelBNC unit for the laptop), a
 BL> BNC "T" connector for the back of each card, and a 50 ohm
 BL> terminator for each end of the run (2 terminators), and of
 BL> course the cable to connect the cards :)
 BL> (sounds a bit like a SCSI chain :)
This is technically true, but it is often mechanically difficult to thread 
the coax cable through all of the machines and stay within the length, 
curvature, and other limits applicable to coax.
 BL>    And since I didn't see ANY 10base-2 "HUBS" advertised in
 BL> the cats I have, am I correct that I will NOT need a 'hub',
 BL> but will simply connect each computer to the next (in
 BL> parallel) with the RG-Cable ? 
 BL> (if there IS a long run later, I presume that a repeater can
 BL> be used) 
Yes, this is true also.
 BL>    Also from what I've understood, all I need to do
 BL> (basically) is to assign one computer as "server" and the
 BL> rest as clients, each with a different 'user/host' name,
 BL> correct ?
Exactly what is involved will depend upon the exact configuration.  For 
example, a Windows client can access an OS/2 server, but the OS/2 server may 
not be "browseable" from the Windows client.  In other words, you might have 
to type the explicit UNC sharename into the Windows client, and could not 
select it automatically from "Network Neighborhood" or whatever.
 BL> On the OTHER hand, if I were to use 10base-T (RJ45) then I
 BL> would be limited to only *2* machines, due to the fact that
 BL> the RJ45 can not be connected in parallel (like the 2
 BL> conductor RG58), and for more that *2* machines - I would
 BL> HAVE to run each one to a "HUB" (like the spokes on a wheel)
 BL> which handles the addressing and routing from/to each
 BL> machine (user).
Yes, you would need a concentrator (hub) for more than two machines.  No, an 
Ethernet concentrator is not aware of routing and addressing issues, but is 
simply an electrical multiport repeater.  You can get a full hub that might 
be far smarter than a concentrator, and such hubs may have multiple internal 
channels which are switched on the basis of link addresses, but hubs in this 
class cost thousands of dollars.  When you buy an ordinary $100 concentrator, 
anything that goes into one port is repeated out to all of the other ports.
 BL> Does that just about sum it up correctly ???
From a software point of view, a 10Base-2 network works exactly like a 
10Base-T network.  Both are functionally Ethernet bus topologies.
 BL> And finally, is there going to be a device to allow me to
 BL> attach my centronics inkjet printer to this LAN with a
 BL> unique username/number ? Or should I just attach it to the
 BL> main server parallel port and send everything I want printed
 BL> to the LPT1 port of that machine ?? 
You can buy boxes to attach printers directly to an Ethernet wire, but these 
are overkill for a simple home network of the sort you are contemplating.  
The usual approach would be to plug the printer into a machine which runs 
peer server software, and use this software to declare the printer a shared 
resource over the network.
 
-- Mike
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