Networking For Dummies

by Doug Lowe

Overview

Set up a secure network at home or the office 

Fully revised to cover Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019, this new edition of the trusted Networking For Dummies helps both beginning network administrators and home users to set up and maintain a network. Updated coverage of broadband and wireless technologies, as well as storage and back-up procedures, ensures that you’ll learn how to build a wired or wireless network, secure and optimize it, troubleshoot problems, and much more. 

From connecting to the Internet and setting up a wireless network to solving networking problems and backing up your data—this #1 bestselling guide covers it all.

• Build a wired or wireless network
• Secure and optimize your network
• Set up a server and manage Windows user accounts
• Use the cloud—safely 

Written by a seasoned technology author—and jam-packed with tons of helpful step-by-step instructions—this is the book network administrators and everyday computer users will turn to again and again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781119648505
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	07/21/2020
Series:	For Dummies Books
Edition description:	12th ed.
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	63,854
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 7.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Doug Lowe is the bestselling author of Networking For Dummies and Networking All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies. His 50+ books include more than 30 in the For Dummies series. He has demystified everything from Microsoft Office and memory management to client/server computing and creating web pages.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 13
Fast as Fast Can Be (or, The Jackalope's Guide to Network Performance)

In This Chapter

• Understanding network bottlenecks
• Tuning your network
• Making your network server faster
• Making your network clients faster

---

It really is true that there's no such thing as a free lunch. When you network your computers, you reap the benefits of being able to share information and resources such as disk drives and printers. But there are also many costs. There is the cost of purchasing network cards, cable, and software, plus the cost of the time required to install the network, learn how to use it, and keep
it running.

There's another cost of networking you may not have considered yet: the performance cost. No matter how hard you try, you can't hide the ugly truth that putting a computer on a network slows it down. It takes a bit longer to retrieve a word processing document from a network disk than it does to retrieve the same document from your local disk drive. Sorting that big database file takes a bit longer. And printing a 300-page report also takes a bit longer.

Notice that I've used the word "bit" three times now. Lest my editor chide me for Overuse of a Three-Letter Word, I'd better point out that I used the word three times to make a point. The network inevitably slows things down, but only a bit. If your network has slowed things down to a snail's pace-so that your users are routinely taking coffee breaks whenever they save a file- you've got a performance problem you can probably solve.

What Exactly Is a Bottleneck?

The term bottleneck does not in any way refer to the physique of your typical computer geek. (Well, I guess it could, in some cases.) It is, rather, a phrase coined by computer geeks when they discovered that the tapered shape of a bottle of Jolt Cola limited the rate at which they could consume the beverage. "Hey," a computer geek said one day, "the narrowness of this bottleneck limits the rate at which I can consume the tasty caffeine-laden beverage contained within. This draws to mind an obvious analogy to the limiting effect that a single slow component of a computer system can have upon the performance of the system as a whole."

"Fascinating," replied all the other computer geeks who were fortunate enough to be present at that historic moment.

The phrase stuck and is used to this day to draw attention to the simple fact that a computer system is only as fast as its slowest component. It's the computer equivalent of the old truism that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

For a simple demonstration of this concept, consider what happens when you print a word processing document on a slow dot-matrix printer. Your word processing program reads the data from disk and sends it to the printer. Then you sit and wait while the printer prints the document.

Would buying a faster CPU or adding more memory make the document print faster? No. The CPU is already much faster than the printer, and your computer already has more than enough memory to print the document. The printer itself is the bottleneck, so the only way to print the document faster is to replace the slow printer with a faster one.

• A computer system always has a bottleneck. Buying a faster printer makes the bottleneck less severe, but the printer will still be a bottleneck. In some extreme cases, a printer can process information faster than the computer can send it. In this case, the printer is not the bottleneck; the parallel port the printer is attached to has become the bottleneck. There is still a bottleneck, but it's been moved around. Since you can't eliminate bottlenecks, the best you can do is limit their effect.

• One way to limit the effect of abottleneck is to avoid waiting for the bottleneck. For example, you can use WordPerfect's print spooling feature to avoid waiting for the printer. This doesn't speed up the printer, but it does free you up to do other work while the printer chugs along. Network print spooling works the same way.

• One of the reasons computer geeks are switching from Jolt Cola to Snapple is that Snapple bottles have wider necks.

What Are the Ten Most Common
Network Bottlenecks?

Funny you should ask. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. The CPU in the file server. If the file server will be used extensively, it should have a powerful CPU - Pentium is best. This is especially true if you're using NetWare.

2. The amount of memory in the file server. You can set up the file server to take advantage of lots of extended memory. A few extra megabytes of server memory can almost always be put to good use.

3. The file server computer's bus. Oops . . . this is kind of technical, so I'll put the details in a sidebar you can skip. The nontechnical version is this: Buy a server computer that has a high-speed local bus if you can afford it.

4. The network card. Use 16-bit network cards; cheaper 8-bit cards slow things down. Better yet, use EISA or PCI bus cards.

5. The file server's disk drive. If possible, use EIDE or SCSI drives. Sorry! I went technical on you again. Time for another sidebar.

6. The file server's disk controller card. All disks must be connected to the computer via a controller card, and sometimes the bottleneck isn't the disk itself, but the controller card. A beefed-up controller card can do wonders for performance.

7. The configuration options setup for the server. Even simple peer-to-peer networks have all sorts of options you can configure. Some of these options can make the difference between a pokey network and a zippy network. Unfortunately, there aren't any hard-and-fast rules for setting these options. Otherwise, there wouldn't be options.

8. Windows! If you use a peer-to-peer network, don't run Windows on the server. You'll just bog things down. (Of course, you can't avoid running Windows on the server computer if you use Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95, or Windows NT Server.)

9. DOS! No matter how hard they try, DOS-based networks will never be as fast as NetWare or Windows NT networks. NetWare and Windows NT have an advantage because they are written specifically to take advantage of the fast features of 386, 486, and Pentium processors. DOS is not.

10. The network itself. If you have too many users, the network can become bogged down. The solution is to divide the network into two smaller networks connected with a cool little black box called a bridge.

The hardest part about improving the performance of a network is determining what the bottlenecks are. With sophisticated test equipment and years of experience, network gurus can make pretty good educated guesses. Without the equipment and experience, you can still make pretty good uneducated guesses.

The Compulsive Way to Tune Your Network

There are two ways to tune your network. The first is to think about it a bit, take a guess at what may improve performance, try it, and see whether the network seems to run faster. This is the way most people go about it.

Then there's the compulsive way, suitable for people who organize their sock drawers by color and their food cupboards alphabetically by food groups, or worse, alphabetically within food groups. The compulsive approach to tuning a network goes something like this:

1. Establish a method for objectively testing the performance of some aspect of the network.

This is called abenchmark. For example, if you want to improve the performance of network printing, use a stopwatch to time how long it takes to print a fairly large document.

2. Now, change one variable of your network configuration and rerun the test.

For example, if you think increasing the size of the disk cache will improve performance, change the cache size, restart the server, and run the benchmark test. Note whether the performance improved, stayed the same, or became worse.

3. Repeat Step 2 for each variable you want to test.

If possible, test each variable separately-in other words, reverse the changes you've made to other network variables before proceeding.

• Write down the results of each test so that you'll have an accurate record of the impact each change has on your network's performance.

• It's important that you change only one aspect of the network each time you run the benchmark. If you make several changes, you won't know which one resulted in the change. Or it could be that one change improved performance, but the other change worsened performance so that the changes canceled each other out - kind of like offsetting penalties in a football game.

• Make sure that no one else is using the network when you conduct the test; otherwise, the unpredictable activities of other network users will spoil the test.

• To establish your baseline performance, run your benchmark test two or three times to make sure that the results are repeatable. If the print job takes one minute the first time, three minutes the second time, and 22 seconds the third time, there's something wrong with the test. A variation of just a few seconds is acceptable, though.

• Standardized benchmark tests are available from on-line services such as CompuServe. These tests aren't as good as tests you devise yourself because the tests you come up with are likely to reflect the type of work you do on your network. Nevertheless, they are useful if you can't come up with any realistic tests on your own.

Tuning a Peer-to-Peer Server

When you use a peer-to-peer network such as LANtastic, there are lots of options you can fiddle around with to improve the performance of your server computers. The time spent is worthwhile to a point because the effect of a more efficient server computer is noticed by all users of the network.

When you first install your network, make no attempt to tune the server for efficient performance. In fact, do what you can to make sure that the server runs as inefficiently as possible. Then, after the network has been running a week or two, announce that you're sick and tired of lackluster network performance and you're not going to take it any more. Apply the basic performance-tuning techniques described here and you'll be a hero.

Using a disk cache

The numero uno thing you can do to boost the performance of a server is to use a program called a disk cache. A disk cache dramatically improves the performance of your disk drives. Here's how it works. (This is a bit complicated, so make sure that you're sitting down before you continue.)

It's a given that computer memory (that is, RAM) can be accessed faster than disk storage, right? A disk cache works by setting aside a portion of memory to hold disk data that's frequently accessed. Whenever a network user tries to read data from the disk, the cache program checks first to see whether the data is already in the cache memory. If so, the data is read directly from memory, much faster than if it had to be accessed from the disk.

The more memory you set aside for the cache, the more likely it is that when a network user needs to retrieve data from the server's disk, the data can be retrieved quickly from cache memory instead. So the general rule is this: Set aside as much memory as humanly possible for disk cache. The cache is the reason you can never have too much memory in a network server.

• A disk-caching program isn't something you have to run out and buy. In fact, you probably already own two cache programs. Most peer-to-peer networks come with a caching program that's designed to work specifically with the network software. LANtastic comes with a caching program called LANcache. In addition, recent versions of MS-DOS also come with a disk caching program called SMARTDRV. Windows 95 has built-in caching.

• Windows NT and Netware have built-in caching.

• If you're using DOS 5.0 or an earlier version, the cache that came with your networking software is probably more sophisticated than your version of SMARTDRV. However, the DOS 6.0 and 6.2 versions of SMARTDRV are as powerful as LANcache or NLCACHE. Which one you use is a matter of preference.

• PC Tools and Norton Utilities also come with powerful disk-caching programs. If you own one of these utilities, you have even more caches to choose from.

• Computer geeks tend to have strong "opynyouns" about which cache is better. Although it's true that one cache program may achieve better scores in benchmark tests than another, the truth of the matter is that any cache is better than no cache, and the differences between caches are relatively minor. Don't fret too much over which cache to use, so long as you use one.

• A hot topic of debate among cache aficionados (called cacheoholics) is whether or not to enable the risky but speedy delayed write feature. This feature - found in LANcache, the DOS 6.0 and 6.2 versions of SMARTDRV, and Windows 95 - caches disk writes as well as disk reads. This significantly speeds up disk performance but at some risk: If a power failure, an earthquake, or the rapture occurs between the time that data is written to the cache and the time that the cache program decides to write the data to disk, there's a good chance that you'll lose data.

• If you use a DOS-based network, the command to start your disk cache should be included in the server computer's AUTOEXEC.BAT file. That way, the cache starts automatically when you turn on the server computer.

• If you use a disk-caching program, you should reduce the BUFFERS setting in your CONFIG.SYS file to 3. Find the BUFFERS line in CONFIG.SYS and change it to this:

  LANcache details to ignore

If you use LANtastic, you should add a LANCACHE command to each computer's AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Place the LANCACHE command as close to the top of AUTOEXEC.BAT file as possible, preferably right after the PATH command, like this:

path c:\dos;c:\lantasti

lancache

If you use the LANCACHE command with no parameters, it will figure out how much memory your computer has and set aside an appropriate amount to use for cache memory, up to 2MB.

If the server computer has more than 2MB of available memory, you may want to tell LANcache to create a larger cache. Then you have to add a switch to the LANCACHE command, something along these lines:

path c:\dos;c:\lantasti

lancache /cache_size=4096

Stop! You already know too much about SMARTDRV!

If you have DOS Version 6.0, 6.2 or 6.22, you have the latest and greatest version of Micro-soft's disk-caching program, affectionately known as SMARTDRV. To activate SMARTDRV, add a command to your AUTOEXEC.BAT like this one:

smartdrv

You should place the command near the top of AUTOEXEC.BAT, preferably immediately after the PATH command.

SMARTDRV checks the amount of memory your computer has to decide how much memory to use for the cache. If your computer has 4MB of memory or less, SMARTDRV uses 1MB of memory for the cache. If more than 4MB is available, SMARTDRV creates a 2MB cache.

You can change the size of the cache SMARTDRV creates by typing the size of the cache you want to use on the command line:

smartdrv 4096

This command tells SMARTDRV to create a 4MB cache. (The number you type in this command specifies the number of kilobytes you want to use for cache memory; 4MB is the same as 4096K.)

Like LANcache, SMARTDRV uses the risky delayed-write feature unless you specifically tell it not to. With DOS 6.0, you tell SMARTDRV to forget about the delayed-write feature by listing all the drives you want cached, following each drive letter with a plus sign. If you have two hard disks - C and D - you type the SMARTDRV command like this:

smartdrv c+ d+

Confusing? Yup. Microsoft saw the error of its ways and decided that DOS 6.2 would let you disable delayed-write simply by adding /X to the command:

smartdrv /x

This command tells LANcache to create a 4MB cache. (The number you type in this command specifies the number of kilobytes you want to use for cache memory; 4MB is the same as 4096K.)

LANcache uses the risky delayed-write feature unless you add the /NODELAYED_WRITES switch to the LANCACHE command, like this:

path c:\dos;c:\lantasti

lancache /cache_size=4096
/nodelayed_writes

Enabling 32-bit file access for Windows for Workgroups

If you are using Windows for Workgroups 3.11, you can improve the disk performance on your server computers by enabling a new feature called 32-bit file access, sometimes also known as VFAT (VFAT stands for Virtual File Allocation Table, but that won't be on the test). VFAT enables Windows for Workgroups to completely bypass MS-DOS when reading or writing on your disk drive. That means faster disk access.

To enable VFAT, open the Control Panel and double-click on the 386 Enhanced icon. Next, click the Virtual Memory button and then click the Change button. This brings up the dialog box shown in Figure 13-1. Click the Use 32-Bit Disk Access checkbox if it is not already checked. Then set the Cache Size control to an appropriate amount. Finally, click OK.

How much memory should you allocate for the cache? There are no hard-and-fast rules, but the following list gives some reasonable suggestions based on how much RAM the computer has:

RAM Cache size

4MB 1024KB

8MB 2048KB

12MB 3072KB

16MB 4096KB

Here are a few tidbits to ponder as you lie awake tonight:

• Microsoft claims that 32-bit file access improves disk performance by as much as 50 percent over Windows 3.1, and most benchmark tests support that claim. With 32-bit file access enabled, programs load faster, documents open faster, database queries run faster, Print Manager prints faster, and, well, you get the idea. Any Windows operation that depends on disk access runs faster when you turn on 32-bit file access.

• 32-bit file access provides its own disk caching, duplicating the function of SmartDrive. As a result, you should remove the SMARTDRV command line from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, unless you want to use it to cache diskettes or CD-ROM drives (32-bit file access works only for hard disks).

• If you don't remove the SMARTDRV command from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, VFAT will disable SMARTDRV but won't be able to reclaim the memory it used. So SMARTDRV becomes a real memory waster when VFAT is used.

• You can also remove the SHARE command from AUTOEXEC.BAT since
  32-bit file access duplicates its function as well.

Server start-up parameters

Most peer-to-peer networks let you play around with several variables that affect the performance of a file server. The standard settings for these options aren't always the best settings for the majority of systems, so it almost always pays to read about what options are available and make a few adjustments.

Figure 13-2 shows the settings you can change for a LANtastic server. Other networks have similar settings. I won't describe each of these configuration options here; instead, I'll zero in on the ones that are most likely to improve your network's performance if you adjust them.

Notice that the screen in Figure 13-2 is titled "Server Startup Parameters." That's because these settings are read by the network server program when you start it. You can change these settings while the network is running, but the new values you specify won't take effect until you restart the server.

Because adjusting these settings requires that you frequently restart the server, you have to ask everyone to stay off the network for a while so that you can experiment with various settings. If you're really dedicated, you may want to do this on a Saturday or in the evening.

Try adjusting the following options, as you think they are appropriate to your situation:

Maximum Users. This option says how many users can be logged in to the server at one time. The default is five; if you have more than five users on the network, you should increase this value. Increasing this value takes memory away from other functions, so you should set it to just a few more than the actual number of users you have.

Network Buffer. This option tells LANtastic how much data should be transferred from the server to the workstations each time a workstation requests disk data. The default setting for this option is 4096 (that's 4K). Most networks run better if you increase this value to 8192 (that's 8K). Try it and see. If not, you can always change it back to 4096.

If you change the server's Network Buffer setting, you also should change the /size parameter on the REDIR command found in each computer's STARTNET.BAT file. The /size value and the Network Buffer setting should be the same.

Network Tasks. This setting tells LANtastic how many network requests the server can handle simultaneously. The default is 1, which means that network requests are handled one at a time. If a user requests data from the server while the server is busy handling another user's request, the second user will just have to wait.

Your network's performance will almost surely improve if you increase this setting to 3. The benefit of additional network tasks beyond 3 is usually small.

Each task requires a separate network buffer, so if you specify 3 network tasks and an 8K network buffer, a total of 24K is set aside for the network buffers.

Printer Buffer. This option specifies the size of the buffer used for network printing. The default is a paltry 512 bytes. You almost always can improve printing performance by specifying a larger value, especially if you have a relatively fast printer. Try specifying 4096 or 8192 and see what happens.

Printer Tasks. You should set this option to the number of printers that are attached to the server. Most servers have only one printer, so the default setting of 1 is appropriate. A separate printer buffer is created for each printer task.

Run Buffer Size. This option sounds important, but it's not. It only affects the seldom-used NET RUN command, so don't worry about it.

Request Size. When a workstation requests some action from the server, the request is held in a small area of the server's memory called a request buffer until the server can process it. The default size of this request buffer is 32 bytes. Increasing this value often can improve performance, though not usually dramatically. Try increasing the request size to 512 and see what happens.

A separate request buffer is created for each network user allowed by the Maximum Users setting.

Run Burst. This setting lets you tell the server whether to place more emphasis on servicing network tasks or local tasks. The default setting of 2 means that the server will concentrate solely on network tasks for 2 "clock ticks" before checking to see whether there is any non-network processing to be done. Each clock tick is 1/18th of a second, so a run burst of 2 means that the server stops processing network tasks 9 times every second.

If a server operates as a dedicated file server, you should increase this value. I like to set it to 18 so that the server checks for local work once per second. The maximum value for this setting is 255.

LANtastic considers print despooling to be a local task. Therefore, if a server functions as both a file server and a print server, increasing the Run Burst setting improves file I/O at the expense of printer I/O. This is one of the main reasons it is best to have separate file servers and print servers if possible. To set this value appropriately for a combined file/print server, you must do what Mr. Miyagi says in the Karate Kid movies: "Find balance."

Seek Cache Size. The seek cache duplicates the function provided by the DOS FASTOPEN command: It keeps track of the locations of files on disk. The default setting is "NO CACHE," but you can change it by specifying a cache size from 1 to 64K. Most networks will benefit from FASTOPEN or a modest seek cache (16 to 32K), but there's no point in using both FASTOPEN and a seek cache.

Cached Resources. Information about each network resource (shared disk drive, printer, and so on) can be stored in cache memory to improve performance. This option sets the number of resources that are held in memory. You should set it to the number of resources defined for the server-that is, the number of shared disk drives and printers.

File Lookup Cache. Use this option only if the server has a CD-ROM drive.

Dedicating the server

LANtastic comes with a program that you can run to improve the performance of a dedicated network server. This program is called ALONE.

ALONE temporarily prevents you from running any other program at the server. The server is then free to concentrate on running the network.

• To dedicate a server, add the ALONE command as the last line of the STARTNET.BAT file. That way, ALONE automatically runs when the server is started.

• You can exit the ALONE program at any time to run programs at the server. Even if the server is not used as a client, you need to do this periodically. For example, you may need to run the NET program to manage the printer queue. You have to exit ALONE to do that.

• To exit the ALONE program, press Esc.

Tuning a Windows 95 Server

If the server tuning options for LANtastic left you with a migraine, you'll love the Windows 95 approach to tuning. The following procedure shows how to tune a Windows 95 server computer:

1. Choose SettingsÍControl Panel from the Start menu and then double-click the System icon.

The System Properties dialog box appears.

2. Click the Performance tab.

3. Click the File System button.

The dialog box shown in Figure 13-3 appears.

4. Set the drop-down list box labeled Typical role of this machine to Network Server.

Your computer is now tuned as a network server.

5. Click OK to dismiss the File System Properties dialog box.

You are returned to the System Properties dialog box.

6. Click OK to dismiss the System Properties dialog box.

That's all there is to it.

Tuning a NetWare Server

Tuning a NetWare server is both easier and more difficult than tuning a peer-to-peer server. It's easier because NetWare is an inherently more efficient network operating system. Because it doesn't run under DOS, you don't have to worry about the built-in limitations of DOS, such as the 640K limit on conventional memory. It's more difficult because NetWare provides more options you can adjust.

• NetWare has an optional mode of transmitting data over the network cable called burst mode. Burst mode can significantly improve network performance, but it's a little tricky to set up. For burst mode to work, you must install a program module on the server called PBURST.NLM and a program named BNETX.COM on each client. Burst mode doesn't work with all network cards, so you have to test it carefully before relying on it.

• Many NetWare configuration options are controlled with SET commands that you should place in the AUTOEXEC.NCF file or the STARTUP.NCF file. For example, SET lets you specify the amount of memory to use for file caching, the size of each cache buffer, the size of packet receive buffers, and a whole bunch of other stuff that's way too low-level and detailed to go into in a proud book such as this one.

• Some of the best techniques for tuning NetWare are suitable only for larger networks. For example, you can dramatically improve disk performance by using a special type of disk-drive gizmo called RAID (which stands for "Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks"). You improve server performance by using "superservers" that have more than one CPU. And NetWare networks are often tuned by using devices such as bridges and routers to manage "traffic" on the network.

Tuning a Client

The biggest network performance benefits are gained by tuning the network servers because the effort you spend tuning one computer results in improved performance for every user who uses that server. Still, you shouldn't neglect performance tuning for the individual clients on the network.

• All clients should use some sort of local disk cache: LANcache, SMARTDRV, or some other caching program. A local disk cache can't cache network drives, but it can still improve performance when accessing non-network drives.

• Speaking of local drives, you can reduce the traffic on the network dramatically by storing frequently used data on local disks rather than on a server disk. Of course, files that have to be shared should be stored on a server drive so that the users who share the file all have access to the same copy of the file. But many files don't actually have to be shared. For example, consider placing a copy of frequently used program files on each computer rather than forcing each user to access program files from the server. This arrangement can improve network performance considerably. (Of course, you must make sure that each user has a legal copy of the software.)

• Many application programs can be customized to specify the location of temporary files. Always set these programs up so that the temporary files are stored on a local drive. Doing so is especially important for database files that are used to sort information.
  

(This passage has been abridged.)

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Getting Started with Networking 5

Chapter 1: Let’s Network! 7

Defining a Network 8

Why Bother with a Network? 11

Sharing files 11

Sharing resources 11

Sharing programs 12

Sharing messages 12

Servers and Clients 13

Dedicated Servers and Peers 13

What Makes a Network Tick? 15

It’s Not a Personal Computer Anymore! 16

The Network Administrator 17

What Have They Got That You Don’t Got? 18

Chapter 2: Configuring Windows and Mac Clients 21

Configuring Windows Network Connections 22

Joining a Windows Computer to a Domain 27

Configuring Mac Network Settings 29

Joining a Mac Computer to a Domain 33

Chapter 3: Life on the Network 37

Distinguishing between Local Resources and Network Resources 38

What’s in a Name? 38

Logging on to the Network 40

Understanding Shared Folders 42

Four Good Uses for a Shared Folder 43

Store files that everybody needs 43

Store your own files 44

Make a temporary resting place for files on their way to other users 44

Back up your local hard drive 45

Oh, the Network Places You’ll Go 45

Mapping Network Drives 47

Using a Network Printer 50

Adding a network printer 51

Printing to a network printer 52

Playing with the print queue 53

Logging off the Network 55

Chapter 4: More Ways to Use Your Network 57

Sharing Your Stuff 57

Enabling File and Printer Sharing 58

Sharing a Folder 59

Using the Public Folder 61

Sharing a Printer 62

Using Microsoft Office on a Network 64

Accessing network files 64

Using workgroup templates 65

Networking an Access database 67

Working with Offline Files 68

Part 2: Designing Your Network 73

Chapter 5: Planning a Network 75

Making a Network Plan 75

Being Purposeful 76

Taking Stock 77

What you need to know 77

Programs that gather information for you 79

To Dedicate or Not to Dedicate: That Is the Question 80

File servers 81

Print servers 81

Web servers 82

Mail servers 82

Database servers 83

Application servers 83

License servers 83

Choosing a Server Operating System 83

Planning the Infrastructure 84

Drawing Diagrams 84

Chapter 6: Dealing with TCP/IP 87

Understanding Binary 88

Counting by ones 88

Doing the logic thing 89

Introducing IP Addresses 90

Networks and hosts 90

The dotted-decimal dance 91

Classifying IP Addresses 91

Class A addresses 92

Class B addresses 93

Class C addresses 93

Subnetting 94

Subnets 95

Subnet masks 96

The great subnet roundup 97

Private and public addresses 98

Understanding Network Address Translation 98

Configuring Your Network for DHCP 99

Understanding DHCP 100

DHCP servers 100

Understanding scopes 101

Feeling excluded? 102

Reservations suggested 103

How long to lease? 104

Managing a Windows Server 2019 DHCP Server 104

Configuring a Windows DHCP Client 105

Using DNS 106

Domains and domain names 106

Fully qualified domain names 108

Working with the Windows DNS Server 109

Configuring a Windows DNS Client 110

Chapter 7: Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave: Cables and Switches 111

What Is Ethernet? 112

All about Cable 114

Cable categories 116

What’s with the pairs? 117

To shield or not to shield 117

When to use plenum cable 118

Sometimes solid, sometimes stranded 118

Installation guidelines 119

The tools you need 120

Pinouts for twisted-pair cables 121

RJ-45 connectors 122

Crossover cables 124

Wall jacks and patch panels 124

Understanding Switches 126

Comparing managed and unmanaged switches 126

Daisy-chaining switches 128

Stacking switches 128

Looking at distribution switches and access switches 129

Powering Up with Power over Ethernet 130

Looking at Three Types of Network Rooms 131

Chapter 8: Setting Up a Wireless Network 133

Diving into Wireless Networking 134

A Little High School Electronics 135

Waves and frequencies 135

Wavelength and antennas 137

Spectrums and the FCC 137

Eight-Oh-Two-Dot-Eleventy Something: Understanding Wireless Standards 139

Home on the Range 140

Using Wireless Network Adapters 141

Setting Wireless Access Points 142

Infrastructure mode 142

Multifunction WAPs 143

Roaming Capabilities 144

Wireless bridging 144

Ad-hoc networks 145

Configuring a Wireless Access Point 145

Basic configuration options 146

DHCP configuration 146

Connecting to a Wireless Network 147

Paying Attention to Wireless Network Security 149

Chapter 9: Connecting to the Internet 155

Connecting to the Internet 155

Connecting with cable or DSL 156

Connecting with high-speed private lines 157

Sharing an Internet connection 158

Securing Your Connection with a Firewall 159

Using a firewall 159

Comparing residential gateways to firewall routers 161

Looking at the built-in Windows firewall 161

Providing a Backup Internet Connection 163

Part 3: Working with Servers 165

Chapter 10: Virtualizing Your Network 167

Understanding Virtualization 167

Understanding Hypervisors 169

Understanding Virtual Disks 171

Understanding Network Virtualization 173

Looking at the Benefits of Virtualization 174

Choosing Virtualization Hosts 176

Understanding Windows Server 2019 Licensing 176

Introducing Hyper-V 178

Understanding the Hyper-V hypervisor 178

Understanding virtual disks 179

Enabling Hyper-V 180

Getting Familiar with Hyper-V 181

Creating a Virtual Switch 182

Creating a Virtual Disk 184

Creating a Virtual Machine 188

Installing an Operating System 192

Chapter 11: Setting Up a Windows Server 195

Planning a Windows Server Installation 196

Checking system requirements 196

Reading the release notes 196

Considering your licensing options 196

Deciding your TCP/IP configuration 197

Choosing workgroups or domains 197

Running Setup 198

Adding Server Roles and Features 203

Creating a New Domain 208

Chapter 12: Managing Windows User Accounts 213

Understanding How Active Directory Is Organized 214

Objects 214

Domains 215

Organizational units 215

Trees 216

Forests 216

Understanding Windows User Accounts 216

Local accounts versus domain accounts 216

User account properties 217

Creating a New User 217

Setting User Properties 220

Changing the user’s contact information 220

Setting account options 221

Specifying logon hours 223

Restricting access to certain computers 223

Setting the user’s profile information 224

Resetting User Passwords 225

Disabling and Enabling User Accounts 226

Deleting a User 226

Working with Groups 227

Creating a group 227

Adding a member to a group 228

Creating a Logon Script 230

Chapter 13: Managing Network Storage 231

Understanding Disk Storage 231

Hard disk drives 231

Solid state drives to the rescue! 234

It’s a RAID! 234

Three ways to attach disks to your servers 236

Focusing on File Servers 237

Understanding permissions 237

Understanding shares 239

Managing Your File Server 240

Using the New Share Wizard 241

Sharing a folder without the wizard 245

Granting permissions 247

Part 4: Managing Your Network 251

Chapter 14: Welcome to Network Management 253

What a Network Administrator Does 254

Choosing the Part-Time Administrator 255

The Three “Ups” of Network Management 256

Managing Network Users 257

Acquiring Software Tools for Network Administrators 258

Building a Library 259

Pursuing Certification 260

Helpful Bluffs and Excuses 261

Chapter 15: Supporting Your Users 263

Establishing the Help Desk’s Charter 264

Tracking Support Tickets 265

Deciding How to Communicate with Users 267

Using Remote Assistance 268

Enabling Remote Assistance 269

Inviting someone to help you via a Remote Assistance session 270

Responding to a Remote Assistance invitation 273

Creating a Knowledge Base 275

Creating a Self-Service Help Portal 275

Using Satisfaction Surveys 276

Tracking Help Desk Performance 278

Using Help Desk Management Software 279

Chapter 16: Using Group Policy 281

Understanding Group Policy 281

Enabling Group Policy Management on Windows Server 2019 282

Creating Group Policy Objects 283

Filtering Group Policy Objects 289

Forcing Group Policy Updates 292

Chapter 17: Managing Software Deployment 293

Understanding Software Licenses 294

Using a License Server 297

Deploying Network Software 298

Deploying software manually 298

Running Setup from a network share 299

Installing silently 300

Creating an administrative installation image 301

Pushing out software with Group Policy 302

Keeping Software Up to Date 302

Chapter 18: Managing Mobile Devices 305

The Many Types of Mobile Devices 306

Considering Security for Mobile Devices 307

Managing iOS Devices 308

Understanding the iPhone 308

Understanding the iPad 309

Integrating iOS devices with Exchange 309

Configuring an iOS device for Exchange email 311

Managing Android Devices 314

Looking at the Android OS 314

Perusing Android’s core applications 315

Integrating Android with Exchange 316

Part 5: Securing Your Network 317

Chapter 19: Welcome to Cybersecurity Network 319

Do You Need Security? 320

The Three Pillars of Cybersecurity 321

Two Approaches to Security 322

Physical Security: Locking Your Doors 323

Securing User Accounts 324

Obfuscating your usernames 324

Using passwords wisely 325

Generating passwords For Dummies 326

Secure the Administrator account 328

Managing User Security 328

User accounts 329

Built-in accounts 330

User rights 331

Permissions (who gets what) 331

Group therapy 332

User profiles 333

Logon scripts 334

Securing the Human Firewall 334

Chapter 20: Hardening Your Network 337

Firewalls 337

The Many Types of Firewalls 339

Packet filtering 339

Stateful packet inspection (SPI) 341

Circuit-level gateway 342

Application gateway 342

Next-generation firewall 343

Virus Protection 343

What is a virus? 343

Antivirus programs 345

Safe computing 346

Patching Things Up 346

Chapter 21: Securing Your Email 349

Defining Spam 350

Sampling the Many Flavors of Spam 351

Using Antispam Software 352

Understanding Spam Filters 353

Looking at Three Types of Antispam Software 356

On-premises antispam 356

Antispam appliances 357

Cloud-based antispam services 358

Minimizing Spam 359

Chapter 22: Backing Up Your Data 361

3-2-1: The Golden Rule of Backups 361

How Often Should You Back Up Your Data? 363

Choosing Where to Back Up Your Data 364

Establishing Two Key Backup Objectives 365

Backing Up to Tape 366

Understanding Backup Software 367

Examining File-Based Backups 368

Full backups 369

Copy backups 370

Incremental backups 370

Differential backups 371

Backup and Virtualization 371

Verifying Tape Reliability 373

Keeping Backup Equipment Clean and Reliable 374

Setting Backup Security 375

Chapter 23: Planning for Disaster 377

Assessing Different Types of Disasters 378

Environmental disasters 379

Deliberate disasters 379

Disruption of services 380

Equipment failure 380

Other disasters 381

Analyzing the Impact of a Disaster 381

Developing a Business Continuity Plan 382

Holding a Fire Drill 383

Part 6: More Ways to Network 385

Chapter 24: Accommodating Remote Users 387

Using Outlook Web App 388

Using a Virtual Private Network 389

Looking at VPN security 390

Understanding VPN servers and clients 391

Connecting with Remote Desktop Connection 393

Enabling Remote Desktop Connection 394

Connecting remotely 395

Using keyboard shortcuts for Remote Desktop 397

Chapter 25: Life in Cloud City 399

Introducing Cloud Computing 400

Looking at the Benefits of Cloud Computing 401

Detailing the Drawbacks of Cloud Computing 402

Examining Three Basic Kinds of Cloud Services 403

Applications 404

Platforms 404

Infrastructure 405

Public Clouds versus Private Clouds 405

Introducing Some of the Major Cloud Providers 406

Amazon 406

Google 407

Microsoft 407

Getting into the Cloud 408

Chapter 26: Going Hybrid 409

What Is a Hybrid Cloud? 409

What Are the Benefits of Hybrid Cloud? 411

Elasticity 411

Flexibility 412

Agility 412

Innovation 412

Operational efficiency 412

Integrating Identity 413

Azure Active Directory 413

Single sign-on 414

Looking at Hybrid Cloud Virtualization Platforms 416

Part 7: The Part of Tens 419

Chapter 27: Ten Networking Commandments 421

I Thou Shalt Back Up Thy Data Religiously 421

II Thou Shalt Protect Thy Network from Infidels 422

III Thou Shalt Train Up Thy Users in the Ways of Safe Computing 422

IV Thou Shalt Keepeth Thy Network Drive Pure and Cleanse It of Old Files 423

V Thou Shalt Not Tinker with Thine Network Configuration unless Thou Knowest What Thou Art Doing 423

VI Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Network 423

VII Thou Shalt Not Take Down Thy Network without Proper Notification 424

VIII Thou Shalt Keep an Adequate Supply of Spare Parts 424

IX Thou Shalt Not Steal Thy Neighbor’s Program without a License 424

X Thou Shalt Write Down Thy Network Configuration upon Tablets of Stone 425

Chapter 28: Ten Big Network Mistakes 427

Skimping on Hardware 427

Turning Off or Restarting a Server Computer While Users Are Logged On 428

Deleting Important Files on the Server 429

Copying a File from the Server, Changing It, and Then Copying It Back 429

Sending Something to the Printer Again Just Because It Didn’t Print the First Time 430

Assuming That the Server Is Safely Backed Up 430

Connecting to the Internet without Considering Security Issues 430

Plugging in a Wireless Access Point without Asking 431

Thinking You Can’t Work Just Because the Network Is Down 431

Running Out of Space on a Server 432

Always Blaming the Network 433

Chapter 29: Ten Things You Should Keep in Your Closet 435

Duct Tape 435

Tools 436

Patch Cables 436

Cable Ties and Velcro 436

Twinkies 437

Replacement Parts 437

Cheap Network Switches 438

The Complete Documentation of the Network on Tablets of Stone 438

The Network Manuals and Disks 438

Ten Copies of This Book 439

Index 441

Editorial Reviews

The Barnes & Noble Review
Thinking about putting a network in at home? Networking the PCs at your small business? Adding new PCs to your existing network? Connecting your current network to the Internet? Or maybe you’ve inherited a network from someone else -- and you’re stuck with the job of keeping it running right.

Whichever box you just checked, thousands of folks in your position have turned to the same book for help: Networking For Dummies®.

In his new Sixth Edition, Doug Lowe has updated Networking for Dummies to reflect today’s latest networking technologies, annoyances, and solutions.

Those choosing a network operating system (or trying to decide whether to stick with the one they’ve got) will find practical coverage of all the latest alternatives. Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP. Red Hat Linux. NetWare 6.

Those considering sharing their new color printer or cable modem will appreciate the book’s updated coverage of home networking -- including a completely new chapter on wireless LANs, the hottest topic in networking.

Even though wireless LAN technology has gotten radically cheaper and significantly easier to use, Lowe can save you from making some very expensive mistakes.

For example, the most common and cheapest wireless LANs -- those following the 802.11b standard -- operate on the 2.4 GHz wavelength. If that wavelength sounds familiar to you, it’s the one used by most of today’s better cordless phones. And yes, they can interfere with each other. If that happens, either get a cordless phone on a different wavelength (you could dig your old 900 MHz cordless out of the closet). Or else spring for 802.11a network equipment (which you’ll love -- if you ever get over the sticker shock, that is!)

He also alerts you to the local wardrivers searching for insecure wireless networks to explore -- and offers step-by-step techniques for beefing up your wireless network’s woefully inadequate security.

Networking For Dummies®, Sixth Edition begins with the “absolute basics:” a layperson’s introduction to using a network. As in previous editions, Lowe does a splendid job of demystifying the technology and capturing the essence of what you need to know to get started. You don’t have to worry about plugging anything into anything until you’ve already mastered printing from the network, working with email, and sharing files with your colleagues.

Only then does Lowe show you how to build a network from scratch. Here, as elsewhere, the coverage is relentlessly practical -- not to mention funny. You’ll learn about everything from planning your network to setting up your servers, installing network cards to running cable. (Don’t know what “Cat 5” is? You will.)

Part III focuses on network management, beginning with an overview of what exactly it is that network administrators are supposed to do. There’s detailed coverage of protecting your data with reliable backups; a chapter-length introduction to network security; and practical ways to figure out why your network is so slow -- and do something about it. You’ll also learn how to be proactive about all this -- anticipating, discovering, and solving problems before someone comes along to holler at you about them.

Next, Lowe walks you through connecting your networked PCs to the Internet. Want to host your own web site? If you can’t be talked out of it, Lowe shows you how. For most businesses, hosting a web site makes more sense if it’s an internal intranet, and there’s a full chapter on setting up one of those.

Need to connect to your network from the road? Lowe compares your options and shows you how. Need to connect a Mac to your Windows network -- or that ancient MS-DOS machine in the corner that’s still running WordPerfect 5.1? He covers those, too. There’s even a chapter on setting up a Linux server (you can use an old PC, and the software’s free or dirt cheap).

If you’re looking for the easiest possible introduction to networking -- a book that’ll point you in the right directions and steer you away from disaster -- you’re looking for Networking For Dummies®, Sixth Edition. Bill Camarda

Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks For Dummies®, Second Edition.