Call your ISP to obtain the settings required to configure your NetWinder for the Internet. These settings differ de-pending on the ISP and the nature of your connection. Tell your ISP that you are installing a server to act as a router and firewall for your network connection. They should then be able to supply you with the necessary details to complete your installation. Depending on the ISP and the connection, these details might include the name of their nameserver, IP address of their gateway, and even your hostname.
Domain registration: Unless you have a company domain, your web address will be something like AcmeISP.com/yourcompany. If you have your own do-main, your address will be yourcompany.com. Your ISP can help you to obtain and register a domain name.
Domain names are unique to your company within a given register. Some of the common registers are .com, .net and .org. Certain countries such as Canada, France and the United Kingdom also have country-based registries such as .ca. There is an annual fee for maintaining a domain name.
Internet connection: Some NetWinder features depend on your Internet connection. If your network is permanently connected to the Internet (24 hours a day) with a fixed IP address, you will be able to:
If you are not connected permanently, or if you do not have a fixed IP address, then your ISP will have to maintain a mail server for your e-mail and will host your web site. E-mail can be sent out through the NetWinder on demand, but can only be received by logging onto the ISP's mail server. You will be able to log onto the World Wide Web on demand. Staff will only be able to log onto the network from outside when the NetWinder is connected to the Internet.
How fast your Internet connection performs is a function of how many people are logged on actively at the same time. If you expect multiple connections to be the rule, you may want to upgrade your connection to something faster to avoid frustration.
Now is the time to decide whether these differences are important to your operation. If they are, you may want to change your Internet connection before you install your NetWinder.
You need the following hardware and software to install and use the NetWinder OfficeServer:
You should have all these components:
Once you have all these components, you're ready to begin installing your NetWinder.