Peer to Peer Networks

The printer used was an:

• HP Deskjet 660c

This was only connected to the end machine.

The software we used was Microsoft Professional.  To create the network we used the network software that was already included in the Microsoft operating system.  

When all of the machines and above hardware was connected we then moved on to setting up the network and creating the users.  The first thing that we had to do was to make sure that the LAN settings were correct and to make sure that the correct protocol was being used by all the machines (TCP/IP).  When then had to ensure that file and print sharing for Microsoft Networks were ticked if these were not ticked then the machines could share files or the printer.  From this we then had to create a new network for CPC Insurers.  This was done by going into the system folder in the control panel selecting the network identification tab, clicking on properties and then changing them as follows:

• Full computer Name e.g. CPC24
• Workgroup – CPCINSURANCE

The next stage in the setting up the network was to issue the users with user names and passwords. This was done again by going to control panel then selecting users and passwords, a wizard then appears and takes you through creating the users names and passwords step by step.  

When this was completed the machine with the printer attached had to install it and create its drivers when this was done the other users searched for the network printer and installed it onto there computers.  This was done by selecting printers from the control panel and add printer this then brought up a wizard, which searched for and installed the printer and its drivers.  After the printer was installed it properties had to be changed to allow it to be shared.

After this we created a folder on each machine called shared files, this file was for the users to save files into so that they could be shared with the other users. Selecting local disk then creating the folder did this.  We then had to change the properties to allow the folder to be shared.   To check that this worked each user created a word document saved it then got the other users to try and open it.

Problems:

A number of problems occurred while we were creating the network and as I was nominated as the network manager it was up to the user with the problem and I to try an figure them out.

The first problem we encountered was that Peter’s machine could not connect to the network and also the other machines could not see it.  To solve the problem we simply retraced the steps of the set-up and discovered that Peter had made a mistake when typing in the Workgroup instead of typing CPCINSURANCE Peter had typed CPC INSURANCE this meant that his machine was connected to a completely different network.  After we had changed this and rebooted the machine the problem had been solved.  

The next and final problem was also with Peter’s machine.  The printer had been installed on all of the machines but his and the wizard would not let him open the pathway to the printer.  This caused a bit of problem as neither of us could figure out how to solve the problem.  Eventually I had the idea to try and print something even though the printer was not installed, this however allowed me to search for a printer this resulted in the machine finding the printer allowing Peter to print.

After our tutor had checked that the network was working properly by performing 9 tasks on it, we had to delete the software and disconnect the hardware.  This was relatively easy as uninstalling software is relatively simple the only difficulty with this was that files were stored in the network folder which had to be deleted.