>I am tasked to write an ordering system. Problem is I don't know what libraries or components or DLLs I need.
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>I am to write a program wherein the computers are connected by modems. The clients are to send data to the server through modems connected by telephone lines. I am not allowed to use HTML or webpages. The clients are to enter data using Forms instead of webpages. Is this possible in VB? If so, can the server accept multiple requests and responses from clients? How do I send data back and forth between clients?
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The easiest way is to do file sharing across a modem connection; you'd use either DCC or RAS depending on the OS. You could use an inexpensive off the shelf product such as PCAnywhere to manage the connection for you; once the connection is established, you can perform standard file I/O in the same fashion that you'd use with a peer-to-peer LAN.

If you use NT or Win2K with RAS, or use an Internet-based VPN, you can handle as many clients as you like, with the understanding that they all compete for bandwidth at the server. You can also use a thin client approach, running Windows Terminal Server or Citrix MetaFrame on top of WTS; I have clustered Citrix environments supporting over 50 clients on a small Win2K cluster with MetaFrame, where each terminal is a Mac or PC which connect to the WTS system via the Internet or LAN, where the server is running the app, but the UI and print services run locally for each client. It is not an inexpensive solution initially, but with a large distributed system, the reduced cost of bandwidth connecting the sites, ease of central management of the apps, and relative ease of connecting new or mobile systems actually reduces the cost of operations for their business - everyone uses the main app, on common data, with some mobile or temporary deployment locations. It's more important that the user is presented with their preferred desktop with access to their standard apps regardless of which machine they use than for each user to have his own machine, and within reason, will appear identical at any other workstation (obviously, within reason; you can't duplicate the layout from a 25" monitor when they sit at a system with a 15" display, or play a DVD on a CD-ROM drive) - little things like swapping mouse buttons for lefties, populating the quick launch bar with the items they use, having their speed dial settings available on their machine, etc. means lots less "having to run back to my office so I can run the XYZ report"

>If I am going to do this at home with 2 or more computers, do I need all of them to connect by telephone wires using modems? Or is it possible for them to connect each other directly withou going through the telephone system?
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You could use an Internet connection to provide a shared point of connection; obviously, if your server has only a slow dial up line, you'll see degraded performance as the number of competing systems increases.