Microsoft Windows 98 Networking

Microsoft Windows 98 is a plausible solution for small-scale file/printer server and Internet server.
Network Connection
Microsoft Windows 98 as LAN file/printer server
Microsoft Windows 98 as Internet server
CGI Programming
- CGI Programming in C Language
- CGI Programming in Perl

Network Connection

Adequate hardware software are required to make computer networks work.

	hardware		software
	network connection	network device	driver		application
			network device driver	protocol driver
LAN connection (connected whenever power on)	10BaseT connection	network card	network card driver (from accompany disk)	TCP/IP for Internet NetBEUI for Microsoft Network (from Win98 CD)	Internet server /client programs Client for Microsoft Networks, File and printer sharing for Microsoft network
Dialup connection (connection is setup on demand)	phone line	modem	modem driver (from accompany disk) 撥號配接卡 (from Win98 CD)

Microsoft Windows 98 as LAN File/Printer Server

Network Configuration for Microsoft Networks

Select "開始|設定|控制台|網路" to set up network components for Microsoft Networks.
"D-Link DFE-650 Fast Ethernet PC Card" is the driver for my Ethernet card. It depends on the network card you are using, and in general is shipped with your network card.
"NetBEUI" is the protocol driver for Microsoft Networks. It is included in Win98 CD.
"工作群組/電腦名稱" pair forms an unique identifier for a machine within Microsoft Networks.

Client for Microsoft Networks

"Client for Microsoft Networks" is a client program for Microsoft Networks. With it, your machine may access those files/printers shared out by other machines through "網路上的芳鄰".

File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks

"File and printer sharing for Microsoft Networks" is a server program for Microsoft Networks. With it, your machine may share specified files/printers with other machines.
Access control for "File and printer sharing for Microsoft Networks" is sub-directory-based and password-protected.
Right-click a sub-directory/printer to pop-up quick menu and select "資源分享" to configure its access control.

Microsoft Windows 98 as Internet server

Network Configuration for Internet via LAN

Select "開始|設定|控制台|網路" to set up network components for Internet via LAN.
"D-Link DFE-650 Fast Ethernet PC Card" is the driver for my Ethernet card. It depends on the network card you are using, and in general is shipped with your network card.
"TCP/IP" is the protocol driver for Internet. It is included in Win98 CD. Click "內容" for "TCP/IP" to setup "IP位址", "通訊閘", and "DNS組態". All these setting is essential for network operation. Query your network administrator for correct setting.
IP address is an unique identifier for a machine on Internet. It can be statically assigned by network administrator, or dynamically allocated by DHCP server.
"通訊閘", also known as gateway, is a machine which forwards outgoing packet.
DNS server is a machine which translates symbolic domain name into numeric IP address, and vice visa.

Client-Server Architecture

All nodes on Internet are born to be equal. What kind of services a site can offer depends on what kind of server programs had been installed on it. What kind of services a site can obtains depends on what kind of client programs had been installed on it.
Most of our previous experience is at client-end. That is, we concern that which client program is preferred for a particular Internet service. Here we will turn our attention to server-end. We will investigate various server programs for common Internet services and install them on our Windows 98 machine.
You may download server programs from Internet.com's ServerWatch.

Experience Internetworking on Standalone Machines

If your computer has connection to the real Internet, either via LAN or via dialup connection, your machine will be assigned with a unique IP address, static or dynamic. A registered domain name is preferred but not required.
Within an isolated Intranet, you have the freedom to arbitrary choice the IP addresses for your machines. For example, if you have two PCs connected via Ethernet 10Base2 connection, you may assign IP addresses 140.127.112.1 and 140.127.112.2 to them.
You may still experiment Internetworking on a standalone machine even there is no real connection to Internet.
Both the domain name "localhost" and IP address "127.0.0.1" will refer to your local machine.
In the following paragraphs, we will demonstrate the setting up of Internet servers on a standalone Win98 machine. However, the experience gained here may port to WinNT machine or real Internet environment without any difficulty.
NetInfo v3.7, by Alexander Tsarfin, is handy diagnosis tool for our subsequent study. It help us to find out wether servers are in work or not.

Telnet/FTP Server

Dragon Server v1.00, by J. Steingraber and T. Wyatt, is a unix-like telnet/ftp server supports multi-user and virtual file system.
Download drgnsrvr.zip and unzip it to a temporary directory. Run "setup.exe" to install Dragon Server v1.00.
Run "Dragon Server.exe" to start the telnet server.
Select "Users|Options..." to create/setup/delete user account.
Invoke any telnet client to see Dragon Server v1.00 in work.

World-Wide-Web, E-Mail, and FTP Server

Inframail, by Infradig Systems, is a Internet sever suit support web-based administration. WWW, E-mail, and FTP servers are included in one package.
Download inframail.exe and run it to install Inframail.
Run "ifmailtray.exe" to start the server suit. For the first time of running, a warning message on DNS setting pop-up and web-administration invoked automatically.
Web-based system administration can be invoked at anytime in two ways:
- Locally with URL "http://localhost:81/sysadmin/index.html" or right-click the Inframail icon in system tray and select "Administration...".
- Remotely with URL "http://domainname:81/sysadmin/index.html", where domainname is the real domain name or IP address.
System Administration:
- Stats: system statistics
- Queue: message (mail) queue
- Mail:
  - Primary Name Server: IP address of Domain Name Server
  - SMTP Server: Yes to turn on Simple Mail Transfer protocol service
  - POP3 Server: Yes to turn on Post Office protocol 3 service
  - IMAP4 Server: Yes to turn on Internet Message Access Protocol 4 service
- News:
  - News Server: No to turn off NetNews service
- FTP:
  - TFTP Server: No to turn off Trivial File Transfer protocol service
  - FTP Server: Yes to turn on File Transfer protocol service
  - Anonymous Access: Yes to allow anonymous ftp access
- Web:
  - HTTP Server: Yes to turn on Hyper Text Transfer protocol (World-Wide-Web) service
  - Admin Port: 81 for default
  - Directory Listing: Yes to give directory list if no default webpages
  - User CGI: Yes to allow users to run their own CGI program
  - Unrestricted CGI: Yes to allow CGI programs run at anywhere
  - CGI Mapping: Define the file extensions for executable CGI programs or scripts. Add ".exe" to default mapping.
- Account:
  - Click "Create" to add user account. User's sub-directory will be generated automatically as in the following example for user "csshieh".
Reference
- URL "http://domainname/~csshieh" will refer to csshieh's default home page
- URL "ftp://domainname/~csshieh" will refer to csshieh's anonymous ftp
- FTP with user name "csshieh" and password will connect to csshieh's private sub-directory
- "csshieh@domainname" or "csshieh@[IP_address]" is the e-mail address for user csshieh

CGI programming

Common Gateway Interface is a specification for transferring information between a WWW server and a external program.
CGI programming is a common approach for interactive, dynamic web pages.
CGI programs could be written in any programming language, including C, Perl, Java, or Visual Basic, provided that server platform supports it.
CGI programs process user input data in form and return results to user on the fly.
You may download CGI programs from The CGI Resource Index.

CGI Programming in C Language

Although C language is claimed to be highly portable, successful porting is not guarantied.
C source programs should be compiled on server platform.
Here are three examples:
- Web Page with User Signature by Chin-Shiuh Shieh.
  - Installation
    "cgiex.c" is compiled by Borland C++ Builder 3.0 in Console-EXE type. Compiled program, "cgiex.exe", is placed in directory "c:\ifradig-servers\inetpub\userroot\csshieh\public_html\cgi-bin\"
    "cgiex.html" is placed in directory "c:\infradig-servers\inetpub\userroot\csshieh\public_html\"
  - Web Page with User Signature in action
- Digital Clock CGI For Windows NT/95 Version 2.0 by Ryan Terry Sammartino.
  - Installation
    Unzip "clock.zip" to directory "c:\infradig-servers\inetpub\userroot\csshieh\public_html\cgi-bin\"
  - Refer to the clock using "<img src="http://localhost/~csshieh/cgi-bin/clock.exe?format=24hr">"
- The Counter For Windows NT/95 Version 2.2 by Ryan Terry Sammartino.
  - Installation
    Unzip "counter.zip" to directory "c:\infradig-servers\inetpub\userroot\csshieh\public_html\cgi-bin\"
    Modify "counter.cfg" according to your preference.
  - Refer to the counter using "<img src="http://localhost/~csshieh/cgi-bin/counter.exe?link=home&style=led">"

CGI Programming in Perl

Practical Extraction and Report Language is a popular language for CGI programming.
Perl is an an interpretive language. Perl scripts are text files. They are interpreted and executed by Perl interpreter.
To run Perl scripts in Windows 98, all you need is a Perl Interpreter. We suggest Perl5.004_02. Unzip and run "install.bat" to install it. After installation, add "c:\perl\bin" to search path.
Although Perl is considered to be platform independent, successful installation is not always possible.
Here are two examples:
- WebBBS v2.25 by Darryl C. Burgdorf.
  - Installation
    Unzip "webbbs.zip" to a temporary directory.
    Modify "config.pl" according to your system settings and preference.
    Place "config.pl" and "webbbs.pl" in directory "c:\infradig-servers\inetpub\userroot\csshieh\public_html\cgi-bin\"
    Create a new sub-directory "c:\infradig-servers\inetpub\userroot\csshieh\public_html\cgi-bin\board\"
  - URL "http://domainname/~csshieh/cgi-bin/config.pl" will refer to WebBBS v2.25.
- Guestbook1-2 by Stamp.
  - Installation
    Unzip "guestbook1-2.zip" to a temporary directory.
    Modify "guestbook6.pl", "repair6.pl", and "define6.pl" according to your system settings and preference.
    Modify "guestbook6.htm" and "addguest6.htm" according to your preference.
    Place above files in directory "c:\infradig-servers\inetpub\userroot\csshieh\public_html\cgi-bin\"
    Place "*.gif" in "c:\infradig-servers\inetpub\userroot\csshieh\public_html\cgi-bin\pic\"
  - URL "http://domainname/~csshieh/cgi-bin/guestbook6.htm" will refer to Guestbook1-2.

Network Address Translation

Network Address Translation, an Internet standard that enables a local-area network (LAN) to use one set of IP addresses for internal traffic and a second set of addresses for external traffic. A NAT box located where the LAN meets the Internet makes all necessary IP address translations.
NAT serves two main purposes:
- Provides a type of firewall by hiding internal IP addresses �
- Enables a company to use more internal IP addresses. Since they're used internally only, there's no possibility of conflict with IP addresses used by other companies and organizations.
WinRoute 3.04g is a software router supports NAT.
Microsoft Windows 98's 連線資源分享 is capable of NAT.