Trying to setup a webserver (Got some networking questions)!!

[jailor]

Hey all, first off, great forum. Thanks for all the info so far. I appreciate you guys helping newbies.
Secondly, not being that computer savvy yet, I am interested in running my own webserver. Often times, I try things just to see if I can do it (html, scripting, etc.). Anyhoo, now I'm interested in creating my own personal server. I figure it would be pretty neat to have limitless web space so I can share and such. So, I know I need high speed, which I have. I know I need a seperate computer, which I have (an old PIII). My questions or concerns start with how to setp what I have into what I'll need. Richt now, I have a pc and a laptop connected to highspeed internet. The pc is connected through cat 5 to the modem while the laptop is a wireless connection to the modem.
1) My first question is, how do I configure this setup so that I can access files on each system? In other words, if I'm on the pc how do I access files on the laptop by going through the network?
2) Secondly, what is the best setup to add a third system to run a webserver?
I get confused between a modem and a hub and how this should be configured.
Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Praetor]

1. You can use windows filesharing although i wouldnt reccomend it. Something like an FTP server (and there are free ones) would be much for effective

2. Unless im misunderstanding, you'll only need one machine to run as the webserver ... adding another machine would require some fancy load balancing and stuff. If you still wanted to, you'd need a router at the very least

3. Modem = thingy that is the first thing the socket-in-the-wall is connected to whether it be cable, dsl, dialup etc. Hub = thingy all your computers are connected to

 

[jcline]

I ran accross this page, some things you might want to look into..
http://microsoft.toddverbeek.com/phttpd.html

So, you have a wireless router? Does your broadband provider have you on static or DHCP IP addressing?