You're going to have an interesting situation when you get more than one computer ready to connect to your broadband access point. You will have to use the same type of networking protocols, software, and configuration routines used by the biggest companies and universities powering the Internet. But you need to know only enough to make your small network run properly. The key points for this chapter are:
* Networking protocols (often called the protocol stack), which provide a standardized way for any type of network device to talk to any other type of network device, without the user or application knowing the details.
* Networking software, most TCP/IP commands, that interface with the networking protocols so developers can network their applications.
* Address management to ensure every IP address on your network is unique.
* How Network Address Translation hides your internal IP addresses from the world.
* How firewalls leverage TCP/IP software access points to keep your network safe.
This chapter, even more than the previous one, is a reference chapter. Dip in where you need to get the answer you need, and get back to playing with your computer. Reading this chapter from start to finish goes beyond dry. It would be considered cruel and unusual punishment, so I'll sprinkle in some snide asides here and there to relieve the technical load.
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