Platinum Edition Using® Microsoft® Windows® XP

Making Internet Services Available

If you have an always-on Internet connection, you may be tempted to run your own Web or mail server. You may also wish to make your computer available over the Internet through the Remote Desktop service so that you can get at your computer from home, work or while traveling.

If you're using a shared Internet connection, though, there is a small problem: The shared connection uses one publicly visible IP address, and the computers on your LAN are essentially hidden. It's rather like a gated community: Visitors are stopped at the guard gate and can't proceed to the residences inside without permission and directions. In the equivalent case of the network, the connection sharing service or device must be told ...