Networking Project Question

[LoneWolfMage]

Greetings Higlanders .. I have been asked to help partake in a project with a local business ( loacal radio staion) which entail a bit of networking .. and im not really sure how to go about configuring this setup .. its been a WHILE ( Win 98) since i have done networking ,, much less something like this ...and what im wondering is if THIS is feasble or is thers possible a EASIER way around doing what they want to do ...4 computers total on the Network (possibly a fifth puter added to the mix which is ALREADY connected to the net and has printer DIRECT connect not sure if they want to network this printer as well ...) Net acess will be Adelphina Power link .. 3 of the 4 will be NEW Emachines systems ( Win Xp home OS) the odd ball one is Win 98( i THINK second edition )ill make this as siimple as i can with explanatin as to WHATthey want to do with each puter as per what they have given me System 1 (new system) : Network to Laser Jet Printer System 2 (new system): Network to Internet and Laser Jet Printer System 3 (older still working system): Network to Internet (possible printer use )System 4 (new system): Network to Internet Use OWN Printer another way of putting this .. #1 and #2 will be networked to thier own printer system 3 and 4 will be networked to a thier own separate printer all will be on the SAME network .. so ALL will have I-Net Acess ( which DOESNT seem to be a problem)i dont have a problem gettin them to Network to the internet thats as easy as Plug and Play the reason they want to do it this way is cause of th SHEER VOLUME of printing that would have to do be some by some of the systems and its easier for them this way i was THINKING of suggesting that they get INDEPENDANT printer for ALL the systems that need a Laser Jet ( bubble jet as i have been told from them WILL NOT be feasble again cause of the volume and the cost of cartridges) to lesen the confusion on thier end i guess im looking for the best way and LEAST confusing way to do this for THIER sake so they dont get confused as to which Printer to send them to and suddenly have to run to the back of the building to get what was printed out .. or maybe im just kinda makin a mountain out of a mole hill as far as the networking is concerned .. as i said i HAVE NOT done networking in quite a while so im not EXACTLY sure what needs to be done on these systems to accomplish what needs to be done any advice is appreciated :)Thank You in advance :)Lone Wolf

[Ed_P]

Sure.The pc that printer 1 is connected to will need to be on but it can be shared by other pcs and made to be the default for pcs not connected directly to it. The same can be done for printer 2. If you can find a router with a print server function built in all the better.

[linuxdude32]

Sounds like a doable plan. Only thing I can think is that if you want one printer to be used by 1 &2, but not by 4, then you'll have to password protect it (I think). That's probably not necessary though since 4 will have it's own printer and it won't see the other one unless the user delves into network neighbourhood to find it. Probably a good idea to give each printer a different name, especially if they're the same brand, to avoid confusion for the guy on 4. I agree with EdP here, getting a router with a built-in print server would be better than a computer handling the printing. It'd be much more dependable than Windows 98 and use less power. It'd also free up the Windows 98 computer as an extra workstation if somebody needs it.