You need to know some things about desktop networking that you don't really want to know. Sorry about that. I will try and slip in details now and then during installations and explanations so it doesn't feel like protocol school.
If something doesn't work immediately when you follow the instructions in various chapters, you may have a network issue. Issues concerning operating system configuration changes to support networking are discussed in this chapter, and you can find them based on your client operating system. If the information here doesn't work, flip over to Chapters 18 or 19 and keep digging.
This chapter should be considered a reference chapter, like a collection of frequently asked questions or an encyclopedia. Sitting down to read this chapter like a book, word after word after word, might be a bit dry.
Imagine home and small business networking like that silly song we all sang as kids where the "knee bone's connected to the thigh bone" and you'll get the most important part. Your broadband provider delivers broadband in the form of a connection on your cable/DSL modem. You connect that to your router with a short Ethernet patch cable (almost always). You connect your computer to the router, with another patch cable or radio waves with wireless networking. You connect your server (if you have one) to your router as well, usually with a wire of some type but sometimes wirelessly. Even when the devices don't physically touch via wires, they are connected. And that's how a Web page comes from the Internet to your screen, by crossing all the connections between your service provider and your computer.
The physical part of the network follows the rules for Ethernet, which is a shared-medium (one long cable electrically called a bus) network with collision detection (when two computers "talk" at once, just like people interrupting each other, they stop for a second) and collision avoidance (one person lets the other person speak first). These rules apply even when talking about wireless networks, were there are no wires.
The software part of the network provides the organization. Network devices can be both servers (they offer something to other network users) and clients (they use resources from other network devices). Again, just like people, you can have dedicated servers (those who always provide resources to others) and takers who never share anything.
Here's a quick list of the types of settings every network-attached device will need, more or less. Servers won't have Winipcfg is specific to Windows 9x/ME, and wireless devices have another group of settings to handle:
* Network adapter : An Ethernet adapter comes standard with all modern personal computers. If your system doesn't have one, you can attach a network connector to the USB port, or connect a wireless network adapter to the system.
* IP address: Every connected device needs one. It can be set on the device or provided by a server using Dynamic Host Control Protocol.
* Workgroup or domain name: Small networks with only one or two servers don't need a fancy directory service to track each user, so I will concentrate on workgroup computing. So every device must be configured with the name of their workgroup to connect to the network.
* Password: If you have a one-person network with no access from outside, maybe you don't need a password. If you have more than one person able to reach your network resources, they need passwords. If your computer can be seen across the network, it needs a password.
Buy the book on Amazon here.