Ubuntu network

[David Fletcher]

On Tue, 2012-03-20 at 06:03 +0800, John Law wrote:

I think I know enough to have a go at this one.

> connect to the Internet. I have to advise to buy either a hub, switch,
> or router. Which one is easiest to setup as my Ubuntu knowledge is

If you want to connect multiple PCs to the Internet you'll need a
router, which also forms the basis of your Local Area Network (LAN) i.e.
it provides a DHCP server to define a LAN address, provide network
addresses to your PCs, and other good stuff.

May I suggest a router which is firmware upgradeable - IPV6 approaches!

My router only has four Ethernet sockets, so to connect more than four
machines a switch is required to expand the number of connections.
According to what I understand, a switch performs pretty much the same
function as a hub but in a more intelligent fashion.

The router is the part that may require setting up, and that requires
some networking knowledge.

> Is it true that I would need a server if I use a hub or switch
> (considering them as they are cheaper)?

No, but if you want to run any sort of corporate email, web site, etc.
you'll want something that runs 24/7 i.e. a server that it protected by
a UPS etc.

>