For March, we have something completely different! First, our meeting is going to be held in Building A, diagonally across Clayton Road from our usual meeting location. We're going to have our first Networking Night at the March DVPC meeting. Members of the Board of Directors have taken on the responsibility of bringing in two PCs running Windows 98, installing a NIC (Network Interface Card) in each machine, connecting them using UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) network cable that has RJ45 connectors at each end to a 5 port 10MB 10BaseT hub, installing the drivers for the NICs, and configuring Windows 98 on each PC to communicate with the other PC using TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) in a peer-to-peer network (no server involved, just two workstations networking with each other). And, if everything goes as planned, it will be Wow! Time with a running network. This is often called a "living room network" -- the kind some people already have and even more people will have at home
Next, Mark Allen will bring in a Linux PC into which he has installed a NIC and the drivers for the NIC, and configured Linux as a server, and he will connect it to the hub using a UTP network cable and set it up to communicate with the other PCs using TCP/IP -- while other Board members configure those PCs so they can see the Linux PC and recognize it as a server. This is complex long-black-robe-and-pointy-hat-with-stars-and-moons-and-magic-wand work, folks! If everything goes correctly (and that's the challenge of all challenges), it will really be Wow! Time and we'll have a running network that includes two Windows 98 PCs connected to a Linux server

(Continued on page 3)