OK, I'm trying to get a network set up to monitor, secure, and hack. I need to experiment with network security, and I need to know how many computers I need for a minimal network. I am trying to get a hold of a laptop I can use with Linux and network it to my other laptop running Windows to try and hack it from my desktop. What programs are recommended, and what amount hardware?

I have a similar situation going for a class right now. I have my main desktop (amd64 3000+ with 1 GB RAM) running Gentoo, a Pentium M 600 MHz laptop with 192 MB RAM running BackTrack2, and a 500 MHz PIII with 256 MB RAM running Windows Server 2003.

BackTrack2 has a long list of exploit/exploration/persistence/etc... programs. You should check it out. It's based on Slackware and comes as a LiveCD with installer (should you desire to install).

As for hardware...as you can see, I'm running garbage haha. But I've already managed to exploit the Win2k3 Server machine using a few different methods, so hardware hasn't been an issue so far.

Back Track doesn't work on my computer...don't know why. I use Protech Beta

What fails for Backtrack?