Home networks

More and more people are building or buying servers for home networks as IT begins to infiltrate the home. A few years ago, you would be one of the few if you had a PC and internet access at home, it is now the norm to have broadband and a wireless network. As more home users are added, more PC's will be in the home requiring a network to share an internet connection. Not many homes run a 'proper' server network, but with the advent of media-sharing and component sharing (ie. one printer shared by the PC's in a house) the more it is likely that homes will start to have their own dedicated servers like business networks. You can create a low-end server from an old PC, or a piece of discarded business equipment like a used cisco or blade server. To buy a dedicated network Operating System will cost several hundred dollars, but XP pro will run as a server O/S with just a few adjustments. Linux is another alternative for those who don't want to spend a lot of money, but you would be well-advised to join some linux forums first, as support for free software is in scant supply....