Networking for Dummies (ISBN - 0470534052)

435 Pages·2021·13.25 MB·English

Doug Lowe
Bestselling author of Networking All-in-One
For Dummies

Learn to:
• Build a wired or wireless network

• Optimize your network and keep it
secure

• Network with all major operating
systems, including Windows® 7

• Safely connect your network to the
Internet

Networking

9th Edition

Making Everything Easier!™

Open the book and find:

• How to share files, printers, and
databases

• An overview of network parts

• Network troubleshooting tips

• What a network administrator has
to do

• Security advice for mobile devices
on your network

• How to set up an e-mail server

• Advice for a backup plan

• Basic network maintenance tips

Doug Lowe is the Information Technology Director for a civil engineering
firm in California. He has been managing networks for more than 20 years
and has written 50+ technology books, including Networking All-in-One For
Dummies, 3rd Edition and PowerPoint 2007 For Dummies.

$24.99 US / $29.99 CN / £17.99 UK

ISBN 978-0-470-53405-2

Computers/Networking/General

Go to Dummies.com®

for videos, step-by-step examples,
how-to articles, or to shop!

Need to build a network
or use one? No idea
where to start? Start here!

So you want to use a network — or worse, someone wants
you to set up one. Here’s just what you need to know in
a language you can understand, even if you don’t own a
pocket protector. Find out what a network is, how to take
advantage of what it offers, what you need to build and
manage one, and how to keep your network (and the stuff
on it) safe.

• Just the facts — for users only, here’s the scoop on networks, how
to use one, and how it makes life easier

• Getting started — find out how to plan a network and what
hardware and software you need to set one up

• More techie stuff — what network builders need to know about
TCP/IP, DHCP, and DNS

• I’ll be your server — learn about setting up a server, configuring
Windows clients, and going wireless

• Hooking up — connect your network to the Internet and set up a
firewall

• Going mobile — explore the unique factors that affect network
access via iPhones, BlackBerry® devices, and other smartphones

• Network management — learn to keep your network secure and
your users happy

• Those other guys — discover how to network Macs and PCs or set
up a Linux® network

Networking

Lowe

9th Edition

spine=.8640”

spine=.8640”

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• Charts

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by Doug Lowe

Networking

FOR
DUMmIES

‰

9TH EDITION

Networking For Dummies®, 9th Edition
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774

www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2009940275

ISBN: 978-0-470-53405-2

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Author

Doug Lowe has written enough computer books to line all the birdcages in
California. His other books include Networking All-in-One Desk Reference For
Dummies, PowerPoint 2007 For Dummies, Java All-in-One Desk Reference For
Dummies, and Microsoft Word 2007 All-in-One For Dummies.

Although Doug has yet to win a Pulitzer Prize, he remains cautiously optimis-
tic. He is hopeful that Ken Burns will pick up the film rights to this book and
produce a documentary on computer networking for PBS, while PBS still has
a budget.

Doug lives in sunny Fresno, California, where the motto is “Turn On the
Water!” with his wife, Debbie, one of his three daughters (Bethany), and a
couple of crazy dogs.

Dedication

This one is for mom. I will miss you so.

Author’s Acknowledgments

I’d like to thank project editor Nicole Sholly, who did a great job of manag-
ing all the editorial work that was required to put this book together in spite
of a short schedule and oft-missed deadlines, and Amy Fandrei, who made
the whole project possible. I’d also like to thank Lee Musick who gave the
entire manuscript a thorough technical review, tested every line of code, and
offered many excellent suggestions, as well as copy editor Jennifer Riggs who
made sure the i’s were crossed and the t’s were dotted (oops, reverse that!).
And, as always, thanks to all the behind-the-scenes people who chipped in
with help I’m not even aware of.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments at http://dummies.custhelp.com.
For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974,
outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media
Development

Project Editor: Nicole Sholly

Executive Editor: Amy Fandrei

Copy Editor: Jennifer Riggs

Technical Editor: Lee Musick

Editorial Manager: Kevin Kirschner

Editorial Assistant: Amanda Graham

Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case

Cartoons: Rich Tennant
(www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Sheree Montgomery

Layout and Graphics: Ashley Chamberlain,
Joyce Haughey

Proofreader: Evelyn C. Gibson

Indexer: BIM Indexing & Proofreading Services

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director

Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher

Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Contents at a Glance

Introduction ................................................................ 1

Part I: Let’s Network! .................................................. 7

Chapter 1: Networks Will Not Take Over the World, and Other Network Basics......9
Chapter 2: Life on the Network ......................................................................................21
Chapter 3: More Ways to Use Your Network ...............................................................41
Part II: Building Your Own Network............................ 61

Chapter 4: Planning Your Network................................................................................63
Chapter 5: Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave:
Cables, Adapters, and Other Stuff...............................................................................79
Chapter 6: Dealing with TCP/IP....................................................................................105
Chapter 7: Setting Up a Server .....................................................................................131
Chapter 8: Configuring Windows XP, Vista, and 7 Clients........................................151
Chapter 9: Wireless Networking ..................................................................................165
Part III: Getting Connected ...................................... 183

Chapter 10: Connecting Your Network to the Internet.............................................185
Chapter 11: Managing E-Mail with Exchange 2007.....................................................193
Chapter 12: Creating an Intranet..................................................................................203
Chapter 13: Is It a Phone or a Computer? (Or, Understanding VoIP and
Convergence)...............................................................................................................217
Chapter 14: Dealing with Mobile Devices ...................................................................221
Chapter 15: Connecting from Home ............................................................................229
Part IV: Network Management For Dummies.............. 233

Chapter 16: Welcome to Network Management ........................................................235
Chapter 17: Managing Windows User Accounts .......................................................245
Chapter 18: Managing Network Storage......................................................................259
Chapter 19: Network Performance Anxiety................................................................277
Chapter 20: Solving Network Problems ......................................................................287
Chapter 21: How to Stay on Top of Your Network
and Keep Its Users Off Your Back ............................................................................301

Part V: Protecting Your Network ............................... 307

Chapter 22: Backing Up Your Data ..............................................................................309
Chapter 23: Securing Your Network............................................................................321
Chapter 24: Hardening Your Network.........................................................................337
Part VI: Beyond Windows......................................... 349

Chapter 25: Networking with Linux.............................................................................351
Chapter 26: Macintosh Networking.............................................................................371
Part VII: The Part of Tens ......................................... 377

Chapter 27: More Than Ten Big Network Mistakes...................................................379
Chapter 28: Ten Networking Commandments...........................................................387
Chapter 29: Ten Things You Should Keep in Your Closet........................................391
Chapter 30: Layers of the OSI Model...........................................................................395
Index ...................................................................... 401

Table of Contents

Introduction................................................................. 1

About This Book..............................................................................................1
How to Use This Book.....................................................................................2
What You Don’t Need to Read .......................................................................3
Foolish Assumptions.......................................................................................3
How This Book Is Organized..........................................................................3
Part I: Let’s Network! .............................................................................4
Part II: Building Your Own Network ....................................................4
Part III: Getting Connected....................................................................4
Part IV: Network Management For Dummies .....................................4
Part V: Protecting Your Network .........................................................5
Part VI: Beyond Windows .....................................................................5
Part VII: The Part of Tens......................................................................5
Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................5
Where to Go from Here...................................................................................6

Part I: Let’s Network!................................................... 7

Chapter 1: Networks Will Not Take Over the World,
and Other Network Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

What Is a Network?........................................................................................10
Why Bother with a Network? .......................................................................12
Sharing files ..........................................................................................12
Sharing resources................................................................................12
Sharing programs.................................................................................13
Servers and Clients........................................................................................14
Dedicated Servers and Peers .......................................................................15
What Makes a Network Tick?.......................................................................16
It’s Not a Personal Computer Anymore!.....................................................17
The Network Administrator .........................................................................19
What Have They Got That You Don’t Got?.................................................19

Chapter 2: Life on the Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Distinguishing between Local Resources and Network Resources ........21
What’s in a Name? .........................................................................................22
Logging On to the Network ..........................................................................24

Networking For Dummies, 9th Edition
viii

Understanding Shared Folders ....................................................................26
Four Good Uses for a Shared Folder ...........................................................26
Store files that everybody needs .......................................................27
Store your own files.............................................................................27
Make a pit stop for files on their way to other users ......................28
Back up your local hard drive............................................................28
Oh, the Network Places You’ll Go ...............................................................29
Mapping Network Drives..............................................................................31
Using a Network Printer................................................................................34
Adding a network printer....................................................................35
Printing to a network printer..............................................................37
Playing with the print queue ..............................................................37
Logging Off the Network...............................................................................39

Chapter 3: More Ways to Use Your Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Sharing Your Stuff..........................................................................................41
Enabling File and Printer Sharing (Windows XP) ............................42
Enabling File and Printer Sharing (Windows Vista) ........................43
Enabling File and Printer Sharing (Windows 7) ...............................45
Sharing a Folder.............................................................................................46
Sharing a folder in Windows XP.........................................................46
Sharing a folder in Windows Vista or Windows 7............................48
Using the Public Folder in Windows Vista and Windows 7......................49
Sharing a Printer............................................................................................50
Sharing a printer in Windows XP.......................................................51
Sharing a printer in Windows Vista or Windows 7..........................52
Using Microsoft Office on a Network ..........................................................53
Installing Office on a network — some options ...............................54
Accessing network files.......................................................................54
Using workgroup templates ...............................................................55
Networking an Access database ........................................................57
Working with Offline Files.............................................................................58

Part II: Building Your Own Network ............................ 61

Chapter 4: Planning Your Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Making a Network Plan .................................................................................63
Being Purposeful............................................................................................64
Taking Stock...................................................................................................65
What you need to know ......................................................................65
Programs that gather information for you .......................................68
To Dedicate, or Not to Dedicate: That Is the Question.............................69
Looking at Different Types of Servers.........................................................69
File servers............................................................................................69
Print servers.........................................................................................70