Home networks are a great way for you to keep your files backed up (in case one computer fails), to play games against your friends, and to just have something neat that you have built. It’s something of a nerdy status symbol, in the end. But building a home network is not nearly as difficult as it was in the days of yore. These days, linking computers together can be handled with just a few wires (or a wireless router) and the software that is already supplied on most factory built PCs. If you can connect to the Internet, you can link a few of your computers together into something better than any one of them could ever be.
But what happens when you have your computers all connected together? What do you really want to do with them? This is usually the kind of question a guy will ask himself after he has already done hours of work, and gotten every computer to work together as well as the Borg do. Unfortunately, this is the wrong time to ask a question like this, as it may end up negating a lot of the work you just did. While it is a lovely thought exercise, it can also be very frustrating to put together something rather intricate (that you’re darned proud of), just to take it apart soon thereafter.
If you want to game, you will want to configure your home network differently than if you just want to use one computer as a data storage depot. The configuration of which computer is used as a slave, for instance, may be different if you are only going to be using it for one function (like holding your unbelievably large music collection) than if you are going to be using it as a full fledged computer for gaming, working or for other applications. Really, there are only so many things you can do with home networks.