hi,
I have about 3 boxes and I want to control them over a LAN from one machine (my main workstation) so that I wont a lot of cables laying around in my room.

Seems to me that i need a network hub to connect all my machine to it and then I control them from my main workstation..I will do stuff like remote X over ssh mostly..

All machines will be running Linux.

My main workstation is the only machine that has access to the internet and from it I will give access to other machines if needed..am I moving in the correct direction ??

Any docs/links/directions appreciated.

Definately got the right ideas there! SSH will let you connect in to your other boxes via console, though if it's just internal network, setting up vnc on your other machines might be easier than piping an x11 session via ssh depending on what kind of remote control you want. The console will probably be fine for most parts. Alternatively, if your machines will be in the same location, look at cheap 4-port KVM which lets you plug the one monitor, keyboard + mouse into all 4 machines.

As for sharing out your internet connection, look at iptables, network address translation (NAT) and masquerading - all basic stuff, only a few lines to get it going.

I control 4 boxes from 1. I use kde on my main box and use KBear with ssh to look at and edit files etc on the other boxes. Things like updates etc I use the console via ssh into the other boxes. You can also use Konqueror to do the same thing by using fish://<ip_address>

Do you use an ethernet hub ?



@fouldsy I can't find a cheap switch here in my country for the use that you are reffering to , so I guess I will stick with an ethernet hub

I use a hub but they are slower being base 10. A switch is preferable because they are quicker and more "intelligent".