The machine normally needs only a network connection for access, but you can also hook up a keyboard, mouse and monitor to directly manage the machine, should the server appliance become inaccessible over the network. There is also a 9 pin serial port and a 25 pin parallel port on the back to attach other devices, such as modems or printers. The serial port is available if you plan to hook up an analog 56 Kbps modem instead. You can then set up routing and firewalling between the interfaces. NetWinder's administration interface.
Installation Installing the system is a matter of plugging it into the network and powering it up.
Initially, you need to use the supplied Java software and HTML page on floppy to locate the NetWinder on the network. The NetWinder itself scans the network for an IP address on your local network that is not actively in use by any other host. Thus, the automatically assigned IP address shows up in the basic configuration. The software is smart enough to figure out not just this address but also that of the preferred gateway and the DNS server. I'm not sure what method it uses to determine this information, and I don't care.