hy everbody, first i want to say this is great forum and it helped me many times. Now i am doing some project for my company and i need your help.
my company now employs 6 people, and we are planing to expand our bussines and employ 4 to 6 new people. now we all use laptops and we are conected to internet via router. so our plan is to use server for file sharing and other things. every user will have his own password to connect from work, or if needed from internet. we are planing to get static ip from our provider. i have many questions how to create network and connect it to internet. i must admit i am total noob about servers, so i'll apreciate any help
What type of server do i need, do i need something like windows server 2008, some linux server, or i can use something like windows xp, or windows 7. could i install it on some old computer i have, or do i need something new and fast?
next, can i conect that server with my router via lan cable, connect all those laptops via wirelles on that router and than connect with router on internet and still be able to access server without problems?
next in near future i'll need some program to monitor IP adresses on internet. this is hard to explain, but i'll try somehow: my ISP provider will get me permission to monitor IP adresses of few company we are working together with, so we can now in any time does these companies have access to internet and is everthing working ok on their end. also can you give me some help with software i can use for that?
also if you could refer me to some tutorials about this topic, and tutorials about configuring network.
thanks in advance
my company now employs 6 people, and we are planing to expand our bussines and employ 4 to 6 new people. now we all use laptops and we are conected to internet via router. so our plan is to use server for file sharing and other things. every user will have his own password to connect from work, or if needed from internet. we are planing to get static ip from our provider. i have many questions how to create network and connect it to internet. i must admit i am total noob about servers, so i'll apreciate any help

What type of server do i need, do i need something like windows server 2008, some linux server, or i can use something like windows xp, or windows 7. could i install it on some old computer i have, or do i need something new and fast?
next, can i conect that server with my router via lan cable, connect all those laptops via wirelles on that router and than connect with router on internet and still be able to access server without problems?
next in near future i'll need some program to monitor IP adresses on internet. this is hard to explain, but i'll try somehow: my ISP provider will get me permission to monitor IP adresses of few company we are working together with, so we can now in any time does these companies have access to internet and is everthing working ok on their end. also can you give me some help with software i can use for that?
also if you could refer me to some tutorials about this topic, and tutorials about configuring network.
thanks in advance