You are by now aware as to how to build a computer by yourself with the readily available computer kits. Building your own computers from the computer kits can be much cheaper than buying them outrightly. These kits are readily available from the online computer store — “Easyasmypc”. In case you are new to this blog you can always read through the various other posts and familarize yourself with the “Do it yourself’ computer concepts and learn how it can benefit you.
This post is about building your own computers and connecting them to form your home computer network. Connecting the computers in a network has many advantages than operating them individually. Although the problem of sacrificing on security lurks behind the scene, there is a distinct advantage in connecting the computers to one another. If proper care is taken to protect individual files, a home network can bring immense benefits and be a lot of fun for the whole family.
Without actually affecting your ability to work individually on your own computer , you can get several extra benefits if you connect your home computers together. A few of these benefits are enumerated below:
1) Sharing of resources: One of the benefits that a home network can provide is the sharing of costly resources. Resources like the printers, scanners, DVD drives, software, internet etc., can be connected to a single computer and accessed by any of the family members from their own computers. Hence, this brings about a savings in the cost of resources. This also allows you to purchase fewer but good quality resources such as laser printers etc. and share them with all the members of your family.
2) Sharing of files: You can share the folders and files that you create with other members of your family. Off course, this does not mean that you have to share your secret files too. For example, you can always withdraw all the rights to your confidential files and those files containing information about your credit cards, bank account nos etc, so that these files are hidden and not accessible to any other members of your family.
3) Playing multiplayer games: One more advantage that can accrue from networking the computers in your home is playing multiplayer games. Such games are available for installation on your PCs or for playing on the internet. This can definitely be a good past time for the entire family. Modern Games also provide a whole lot of learning and educational experience and can be a boon for the young members of your family.
4) Communicating with other family members: With the help of the home computer network it is easy to communicate with the members of your family. For example, the elder members can leave notes for their children about the homework, events, vacation plans etc, so that it would be easy and enjoyable for the young members to read.
5) Collaborating over a project: The completion of a project might require several people working together as a team. If the project is a lengthy one it is impossible for a single person to complete the entire project within a given time span. Hence, collaborating over the project can be very beneficial. A simple example would be collaborating to build a family photo album and sharing the same with all the members of the family.
Networking your home computers need not be a complicated task. You can begin by a proper selection of the networking components such as the networking cards, hubs, switches, routers, cables etc. A home network need not be very intricate as you can use a simple peer to peer networking model using the operating systems such as the Wndows Xp, Windows Vista or the Windows 7 to network the computers. You need not buy any costly equipments such as the hubs, switches or routers in the beginning, but a simple four port or eight port Adsl router which comes along with your broadband internet subscription would be sufficient to connect the computers together in your home. However, if your network grows beyond eight or more computers you might have to use more complicated stuff such as the routers and make use of the client/server networking model rather than the peer to peer networking model to get better results.