<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9"> <TITLE>Thin Client: New User Guide: Hardware and Documentation</TITLE> <LINK HREF="Thinclient-HOWTO-3.html" REL=next> <LINK HREF="Thinclient-HOWTO-1.html" REL=previous> <LINK HREF="Thinclient-HOWTO.html#toc2" REL=contents> </HEAD> <BODY> <A HREF="Thinclient-HOWTO-3.html">Next</A> <A HREF="Thinclient-HOWTO-1.html">Previous</A> <A HREF="Thinclient-HOWTO.html#toc2">Contents</A> <HR> <H2><A NAME="docs"></A> <A NAME="s2">2. Hardware and Documentation</A></H2> <P> <H2><A NAME="ss2.1">2.1 Hardware</A> </H2> <P>When you start, you will need at least this <P> <P> <UL> <LI>a computer to act as Server,</LI> <LI>a client computer, I unplugged the power to the hard disk and disabled the drive in the bios to emulate a diskless machine</LI> <LI>compatible network cards</LI> <LI>connection between computers, I used twisted pair ethernet with RJ45 terminators <UL> <LI>For two computers a <I>cross-over cable </I> is sufficient, and saves another power point, the first computer shop I went to gave me blank stares, idiots !</LI> <LI>For two or more clients, you need a hub, a kit with a 10 mb 4 port hub ,2 cards sells for under A$150, you can probably do better, I've had some success with $5 second hand cards, 3m cables for $6, a new hub for $40, a found monitor and a $60 pentium 75</LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <P> <H2><A NAME="ss2.2">2.2 Documentation</A> </H2> <P>You may like to familiarise yourself with the linux documentation, specifically you can read (skim) for an overview the following : <P> <UL> <LI>/usr/doc/HOWTO/mini/Diskless - a similar howto tackling this problem</LI> <LI>Networking Overview HOWTO - Networking capabilities of the Linux</LI> <LI>Ethernet HOWTO - Information on Ethernet hardware compatibility</LI> <LI>NET-3 HOWTO - How to configure TCP/IP networking under Linux.</LI> </UL> <P> <P>Also you probably have in the /usr/doc/LDP/ directory <UL> <LI>The System Administrators' Guide</LI> <LI>The Network Administrators' Guide</LI> <LI>Linux Installation and Getting Started</LI> </UL> <P> <P>The obligitory link <UL> <LI> <A HREF="http://www.magma.ca/~bklimas">http://www.magma.ca/~bklimas</A> help for new linux users.</LI> </UL> <P> <P>One last thing <UL> <LI> my network server is snoball , my client is elite and my (local)domain is gundog.net Replace with your computers names where applicable</LI> </UL> <P> <HR> <A HREF="Thinclient-HOWTO-3.html">Next</A> <A HREF="Thinclient-HOWTO-1.html">Previous</A> <A HREF="Thinclient-HOWTO.html#toc2">Contents</A> </BODY> </HTML>