Network questions

[Paulo Magalhaes <pamaga@biobase.dk>]

Greetings!

I few minutes of your attention... I am trying to learn some intricate
details of networking.

I've just moved, and this is the setup I found at my new lab:

Ethernet backbone
=================
 |
 |    -------------     -------------
 |    |Farallon   |     |Farallon   |
 \____|EtherWave  |_____|EtherWave  |______    HP
      |AAUI       |     |AAUI       |       LaserJet
      |Transceiver|     |Transceiver|
      -------------     -------------
            |                |
            |                |
        MacQuadra        PowerMac
                             |
                              \__ SCSI     ___ SCSI
                                  device A     device B

I hope the diagram is clear enough - feel free to ask questions if
not. Ok, I have a simple TP750Cs with 8Mb RAM, 340Mb HD, running OS2
2.1 (soon, very soon, to be upgraded to Warp - where's the cheapest
place to get it, btw? is there a discount for previous OS2 owners?)
and I need to access data on the Macs. Even though I'm an ignoramus
about these computer things, I guess that I need: a) a PCMCIA ethernet
card [I believe 3Com's 3C589B has received some support in this list,
but any additional information is most welcome]; b) another Farallon
transceiver [just because that's what the people here use...]; c) a
bit of patience setting everything up...  So, why am I bothering
everyone with this? Well, before I order the stuff, am I doing the
right thing? Is there a cheaper/more convenient way of getting hooked
to the network? Any problems with the expected Warp upgrade?... When I
go home (taking my precious TP with me, of course!), will there be a
problem for the Macs because of the "hanging", "empty" transceiver
(the one I'm about to order, that is)? When I connect the TP to the
transceiver, do I need to switch my computer off, or can I do it from
a sleeping/hybernating condition? The equivalent question for
disconnecting... I really appreciate your comments/suggestions.

Additionally, I have another problem - small, but unsolvable, I think.
It would be really, really good if I could access the SCSI devices
from my TP... But that's not possible, right? The "experts" here say
that it is simply impossible to access another computer's SCSI port, but
I still thought of asking for your opinion. No way to reach a SCSI device
from different machines?...

Many thanks for your comments, and my apologies for a rather long message.

Paulo