Home Network Set-up Question

[EchoedTruth]

Hey everybody,

Ok, here's my issue:

I currently have a home network comprised of my Comcast cable modem -> Netgear N150 WiFi router -> 5-port ethernet switch.

I have multiple computers wired directly into the switch, and some devices running via WiFi.

Here's what I want to do:

I have one laptop currently running Windows Server 2008 R2, and another laptop running Windows 7 Ultimate.

I want to set up a client-server relationship between the two, in order to teach myself about Active Directory, DHCP, DNS, Web servers, etc...


So - How do I assign a static IP to a single laptop running Win Server 2008 that is connected via wired ethernet on my home network (the network is a Netgear router that is set to dynamically assign IPs from the ISP), and ensure that the laptop always keeps that IP, so that my client laptop (also connected to the wired switch, not WiFi) can connect to it?


Thanks in advance