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J Borgaard has designed a PIC to ethernet interface that allows you to monitor / control ports on the 16F877 chip via the ethernet !

What good is that you may ask ! Well basically it means that you can control / monitor virtually ANYTHING over a network or if the network is connected to the internet then you can control this interface and anything connected to it from any computer that has internet access anywhere in the world !

The uses for this interface is infinate !

Now this idea isn't new or even the only design out there but I like this one for several reasons:

The design uses a bulk standard PC ethernet card made by 3com.(I got several at a local computer fair for £3 each second hand)
The software is written in assembler which means there is no expensive compilier to buy or new high level language to learn.
The design is simply, easy and cheap to build

I know of two other designs :

Dr Edward Cheung - Will cost you $35 for the design, you need CCS C compilier (Approx £100) and uses NE2000 compatible PC network cards (They are not all as compatible as you think so you could build this and find that it doesn't work ! He also will only answer technical questions if you have paid for the design.)
Embedded Ethernet- This design uses a Cirrus Logic Ethernet chip mounted on a custom PCB, the chip is a quad flat pack device which is not easy to solder without the correct equipment. Software for this design is also very limited .(This link is dead !!! I managed to find the author (Gary T. Desrosiers) new site but it dosn't mention the embedded ethernet

So basically my advice is stick to J Bogaards design .

The website contains all the information you need to build the interface including a PCB layout. I have built this interface but built it slightly differently. Instead of using a PCB (I don't have access to PCB making equipment) I used an ISA socket from an old PC motherboard and soldered that onto a piece of Vero or Strip board. I then used old fashioned wire wrap to make all the connections . This allows me to modify the circuit easily and add extras as required. J Borgaards design allows you to control 7 bits on Port C and monitor 8 analog bits on port A using a custom Visual Basic program. I made a simple wiring change and a few software changes so that I can control all 8 bits on port C. I believe he is going to incorporate these changes soon.

The pictures below show the board that I have built and shows the additional 8 LEDs I fitted to monitor Port C . Keep an eye on J Borgaards site as he plans to release a HTTP version of his software soon .