UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

I'm brand new to this forum AND Unix. For obvious reasons. I don't know much at all. I'm 14 and i just got my first UNIX SPARCstation5 SUN computer. Something like that. i set up Solaris 9.1(With the help from my dad), now that i've gotten pertty much everything settled, i would like to route my DSL connection from my Windows XP computer to my UNIX computer. I have NO IDEA whatso ever on how to do this. Remember i'm a newbie and i just started with UNIX. So please...explain in GREAT detail.

It may in the end be easier to buy an inexpensive network hub, so each has it's own network connection to the DSL line (that way, if the Windows box goes doesn for, say, reboots after Windows Update (*cough*), your Sun box will stay online).

If you don't already have one, though, something with firewall ability will be better. You could also use NAT behind the router/hub/firewall for some amount of security.

Hmm...Well...EASIER yes but CHEAPER? no i'm going for the cheaperness. Only thing thats in the way is the fact that i gatta log into the internet through PPPoE or w/e. thats a bi...pain in the butt

A $20 hub can be used to split the network connection between the two computers, but either your ISP will need to allocate two IP addresses to you or you will need to set up one of the machines as a NAT firewall using i.e. Windows Internet Connection Sharing. I wouldn't advise this route, since you'll need to install a second network card on the firewall computer, that your other computers can connect to via a hub or whatnot, so that the modem doesn't get confused by signals from both computers.

There are a number of consumer products marketed as "Cable/DSL Router", which usually include a four-port hub and a jack for your modem. You can get these for under $50 dollars, and most can be configured for PPPoE through a web browser interface. I recommend the Linksys and D-Link brands, though most will do the job.

Just as anarchie said, if youre going to route from the XP computer to Solaris, you're going to need to shell out cash for another network card and go through the trouble of setting up XP's Internet connection sharing.
Why not just buy a router -- scour http://www.slickdeals.net for deals. They come up all the time. That way if you want to add yet another computer to you network, you can just plug it in.

Or if you wanted to get tricky, and have an old PC lying around with a few NICS (can be had for cheap, or cannibalized from other PCs), try SmoothWall , or IPCop . I personally have not had time yet to try either out, but IPCop is based on SmoothWall, and I've heard that it's a bit better overall.

On the plus side of this, you can learn Unix, Linux, and networking all in one!

Well the thing is, how exacly does the DSL hub work compared to a normal router? I need 2 IPs for both comps and stuff like that. I'm not to informed about networking so what exacly will the hub do to make it work?