In order to have a functional network, the desktop computers in your organization will need to be connected to and configured to use the network. We noted earlier the issues involved in installing a network card in each computer, and physically connecting to the network.

The more current the operating system of your desktop computers, the less you will need to worry about network software. Windows 95 and Windows NT both come with a variety of built-in network capabilities. With Windows 3.x, you will need to install network software for both IPX and TCP/IP.

In a NetWare environment, you may want to install Novell's client rather than rely on the NetWare support built into Windows 95 or Windows NT. Novell's client offers many features not found in Microsoft's current version, including support for NDS.

The desktop computers on your network will need to be equipped with Web browsers and other network client software. As Web browsers, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator both offer excellent features. The selection between these two is largely a matter of taste, though there may be some environments where one works better than the other.

As you design your network, keep a good inventory of the client computers on your network. Closely monitor the Ethernet addresses and the IP addresses you assigned to each system. This will be valuable information should you have problems and need to troubleshoot the network.

Vendor Resources for the Small Business Network

The small-office and home-office environments represent a significant portion of the network marketplace, and vendors are increasingly offering product lines and services to target these buyers. Several networking companies devote a section of their Web sites to the networking needs of small business:

Intel Small Business Home Page: (http://www.intel.com/businesscomputing/small/index.htm). Take special note of the pages titled "How Getting Connected Benefits your Growing Business" (http://www.intel.com/businesscomputing/small/running/getcon.htm).

Microsoft's small-business section can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/smallbiz. The Microsoft BackOffice Small Office Server includes a suite of applications packaged for the needs of small businesses.

Cisco, a company best known for products for large organizations and ISPs, also offers a set of products designed to connect small office networks to the Internet and other external networks. See the section entitled "Cisco Small Office/Home Office Solutions" at http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/smoff.html.

3Com Corp. offers a number of products for the small office market. Its Small Business Systems (http://www.3com.com/products/sbs.html) section describes the products, current promotions and general information about networking issues for these kinds of networks.

While Bay Networks specializes in solutions for enterprise networks, its Netgear subsidiary focuses almost exclusively on networking products for the small office and home environment. http://netgear.baynetworks.com/

Novell targets the small office networks with its NetWare for Small Business package. To learn more about this package and other Novell products tailored for small networks see: http://www.novell.com/intranetware/products/smallbiz/