managing a network, users/accessibilty

jasperok

Maybe this shoiuld be in operating systems, if so then sorry.

How do you folks control what the users of your network get up to - for instance if you want to restrict what programs they use - what drives and folders they have read and write access to - this kind of stuff?

Also i have 20pc's cabled into switch and thats cabled into router which is wireless + 4 lans - now i have a laser printer and a wireless print server - could i make the 20pcs see the print server do you think? even though the pc's arent wireless they are eventually reaching the router so maybe? any ideas?

NutJob

Guess ur not using a domain controller?



What os are you running? Google the microsoft xp shared computer toolkit (only works on xp).

i make the 20pcs see the print server do you think? even though the pc's arent wireless they are eventually reaching the router so maybe? any ideas?

drop wireless router into bridge mode should do it.
or some port forwarding.



all depends on ur setup more details would be nice.
-is ur wireless router using nat?

Stephen

Assuming your client PC's run Windows, a windows active directory domain sounds like the ideal solution here. It sounds to me like you only have the one site, so a single server acting as a domain controller, dhcp server, dns server etc would probably do the trick.

Be careful with your microsoft licencing though!

jasperok

sorry forgot to say i am not running a server (not for this year anyway)
i suppose it isn't a true network as such then....
yes all running xp pro
All fully liscensed
I dont mind that the pc's cant be controlled ny a server for now - i just want them to go from the switch to the internet which they do fine.

however i am now up against it trying to find the right network storage for this sort of setup - i'd like for 20 people to have a gig of storage each to be accsessed frm any pc but i imagine a usb 7200 8mb cache drive isnt going to be up to to the task is it?
i have a 80gb synology ds-101j
and a 320gb western digital scrap book usb drive,
still i bet they are only meant for smaller setups, is there anything like these but able for the task?

Foxwood

jasperok wrote:

Maybe this shoiuld be in operating systems, if so then sorry.

How do you folks control what the users of your network get up to - for instance if you want to restrict what programs they use - what drives and folders they have read and write access to - this kind of stuff?

Based on your other replies, your options are limited without setting up a domain controller. You can setup usernames/passwords on each machine, but keeping them in synch will be a lot of trouble. (If each machine is dedicated to a single user, you can get away with it, by just creating one user account on each workstation, and then creating the same usernames, with the same passwords, on the machine with the shared drive/folders. If you've got a spare machine, you could consider running Samba on it, if your main reason for not getting a server this year is the cost of a server license.

Also i have 20pc's cabled into switch and thats cabled into router which is wireless + 4 lans - now i have a laser printer and a wireless print server - could i make the 20pcs see the print server do you think? even though the pc's arent wireless they are eventually reaching the router so maybe? any ideas?

No problem. All the devices, wired and wireless are on the same network (I presume by "switch" you mean a switch, and not a router).

Foxwood

jasperok wrote:

si'd like for 20 people to have a gig of storage each to be accsessed frm any pc but i imagine a usb 7200 8mb cache drive isnt going to be up to to the task is it?
i have a 80gb synology ds-101j
and a 320gb western digital scrap book usb drive,
still i bet they are only meant for smaller setups, is there anything like these but able for the task?

The the drive out of the USB enclosure and install it inside one of the PCs. The direct IDE connection can't be any slower, and will probably be faster.