Ahem,

>> Should I just plug a ethernet dongle into an USB port, or
>> are other (and perhaps better) options available ?
>
> The only other real option is VLANs and a smart switch -
> USB ethernet is simpler.

I was thinking more in the direction of a a "hat" plugged onto the RPi's I/O
connector, but I get the message.

>> Second, how do handle (configure) such an extra interface ? Especially as
>
> That depends - if both networks have DHCP servers then just
> configure the new interface to use DHCP (probably default),
> plug it in and watch it connect.

That sounds easy enough.

Part of my problem is that I have no idea what the RPi OS does when it sees
two network interfaces.   Under Windows it would blabber all kinds of
(discovery) broadcasts and data over both - which is not what I want to have
happen.

> You would have to do extra work to get packets passed between them.

Which would be falling right into the target-zone of my programming hobby.
:-)

> Samba is an open source SMB server, there's a vast amount
> available on configuring it.

Yeah, I know.

> You don't need to disable anything, you would need to enable
> routing for there to be connections between the interfaces.

That sounds good.

Perhaps even good enough to continue in this direction ...

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05