What is Windows Networking?

The term networking covers a broad range of the topics and technologies. A computer network is segmented into different parts to share the data and resourced between the different computers of a network. Microsoft has released the operating systems that have the networking capabilities so Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows XP Professional and Windows Vista all are the network operating systems. 

To share data and network resources among the computers in a network is known as networking. Computer networking is a core part of the whole information technology field because without it computers can never communication with each other locally and remotely. Just image that if you work in a bank or in a corporate office and all the computers in your office are without networking. How difficult it would be for you and for the other employees of your office to communications, shares data such as word documents, financial reports, client’s feedback, graphical reports and other important work with the other employees.

Put the same scenario if your office has different branches in the same country and different countries. Data communication has become the vital part of the whole computing industry. There are different standards, protocols, devices and applications that form computer network architecture. With the passage of time there are improved standards, communication devices and network applications that make the data communication processor easier. Following is the basic review of the important things that are involved in the data communication system.

All these operating systems have built inn capabilities of files and printer sharing, security, network administrative control, protocols support such as TCP/IP, NetBIOS, IPX/SPX and network hardware support.

Naming Computers

All computers in a Windows based network requires a unique name for their identification i.e. the name of the computer A cannot be assigned to the computer B and so on. Assign a meaningful computer name to all the computers and the name should be easy to remember.

All the names should be configured properly and ensure that the name is not longer than the 15 characters and they contain no spaces in them. Also try to avoid the special names while naming the computers such as / \ *,:,. To assign a computer name in Windows XP and Windows 2000 do the following things.

1. Right click on the My Computer.
2. Click Properties
3. Click on Computer name.
4. Assign a unique and meaningful computer name.

Naming Workgroup and Domains

A Windows based computer network can be a workgroup (Peer to Peer) or domain (client/server). You can make your computer a part of the workgroup or a domain. If you have centralized server then your computer will be part of the domain and if you have no server then all computers will be having peer to peer networking. In both cases, while joining your computer to a domain or a workgroup always assign unique, sequenced, memorable and meaningful names to the computers. Do not use duplicate names and the special characters such as / \ *,:,,. In order to join a computer to a domain or workgroup in Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional do the following.

1. Right Click on My Computer
2. Click Properties
3. Click on Computer Name
4. In Workgroup or domain, enter the name of the workgroup or domain.

If everything is correct such as unique computer name, unique IP address, correct workgroup or domain name then you computer will be the part of the workgroup or domain in the few seconds and you will be see a welcome to domain or workgroup message and will be prompted to restart the computer name.

Files Sharing

Being on network computer files and printer sharing is a must. To enable the files and folder sharing in Windows XP Professional 2000 and Windows 2000 do the following.

1. Right Click on the folder name you want to share.
2. Click on the properties.
3. Click Sharing.
4. Click on Share this computer on the network.
5. Assign a shared computer name.

You can set the sharing rights for the users and also control the shared folder access by allowing and denying permissions to specific users or groups. If you want to share the individual files, you can put the files in the same shared folder. All the files and folders in the parent shared folder will be automatically shared.

Network Cable Errors in Windows

If your computer network cable is not working properly, you will see a repeated message or pop up “network cable is unplugged” on your desktop and the blinking status lights of the network will also stop blinking. There can be many causes of this problem and you can fix this error with these simple tips. If you have another Ethernet adapter installed but not using it, then disable it by right clicking on the monitor icons on the right side of the desktop and select the disable option. Check both ends of the cables and ensure that the RJ 45 connectors are properly inserted in the LAN card and in the Hub/Switch. Update the drive of the LAN card from the vendor’s website and if the problem still exist then replace the cable with new one. If the problem is still not resolved then replace the LAN card with a new one and try to use a new hub or switch and put cable’s one end into it. By these simple steps, you will be able to trace out and troubleshoot the problem.

Introduction to Windows Firewall

Windows firewall is a protective layer or boundary that monitors the in and out traffic from your network and internet. The firewall is a protective and defensive boundary against the intruders and unauthorized persons. You can enable the firewall in XP Professional with these simple steps.

1. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel
2. Windows Firewall > Double click.

Network Troubleshooting Tips

If you find a communication failure error in the TCP/IP network then try to find and troubleshoot the errors with the following methods.

1. Make sure you can ping the other computer by name.
2. Make sure you can pint the other computer by IP address.
3. Make sure you have assigned unique IP address and computer name to all the computers in the network.
4. Make sure you have assigned the correct gateway, subnet mask, DNS and DHCP addresses.
5. For troubleshooting purpose try to uninstall any firewall software and see if the problem is resolved.

Windows Network Security

Security a computer network should be the top priority of the network administrators, system managers and security specialists. You can secure your computer network by doing these things such as installing the updated operating system, up-to-date antivirus program, event log monitoring, encryption, group policy management, patch management, security scanners, auditing, firewall security, web application security, web content filtering and controlling the access to only the authorized users.

How to Configure a Network

In this section you will learn how to configure a network, peer to peer, client server, workstation, server, basic data communication.

Peer to Peer network model

Before configuring a computer network, you have to decide that, which networking model you require. There are two main types of network models. Peer to peer and client-server network model. In the peer to peer network model you simply use the same Workgroup for all the computers and a unique name for each computer.
Additionally, you will have to give a unique IP address of the same class A, B, or C for all the computers in your network and its related subnet mask e.g if you decide to use class A IP address for your three computers in your Peer to Peer network then your IP address/Subnet mask settings can be as follows.

Computer Name IP Address Subnet Mask Workgroup

Please note that the above example is for only illustration purpose so you can choose any IP address, computer name and workgroup name of your interest. For doing this right click on My Computer and then click Properties then go to the Network Identification section and set these.

In a peer to peer network all computers acts as a client because there is not centralized server. Peer to peer network is used where not security is required in the network.If a computer fails to work then all other computers work normally in peer to peer network.

Client/Server Network Model

In the client/server network model a computer plays a centralized role and is known as a server all other computers in the network are known as clients. All client computers access the server simultaneously for files, database, docs, spreadsheets, web pages and resources like hard diver, printer, fax modem, CD/DVD ROM and others. In other words, all the client computes depends on the server and if server fails to respond or crash then networking/communication between the server and the client computes stops.

If you want to configure a client-server network model then first prepare the server. Install Windows 2000 or Windows 2003 Server from the CD on the server computer and make a domain. You can create a domain by this command on the Run “DCPROMO”. You can give this command once you install the server successfully. After you give the DCPROMO command you will be asked for a unique domain name. All the client computers will use the same unique domain name for becoming the part of this domain. This command will install the active directory on the server, DNS and other required things. A step by step wizard will run and will guide you for the rest of the steps. Make sure that a network cable is plugged in the LAN card of the server when you run the DCPROMO.exe command.

When the Active directory is properly installed on the server, restart the server. You can create network users on the server computer and also name/label the network resources like computers/printers etc.
Once you install the server successfully now come to the client computers. Install Windows 2000 professional on your all client computers. Once you install the Windows 2000 professional on the clients the next step is to make this computer (client computer) a part of the network.

Configuration Steps

1. Choose a unique name for each client computer
2. Choose unique IP address for each computer and relevant.
3. Use the same domain name for all client PCs.

Network configurations steps can be implemented by right clicking the My Computer>Properties>

For giving the IP address you will have to right click on the My Network places>properties>Local Area Connection>Properties>Internet Protocols (TCP/IP)>Properties and then give the IP address and subnet mask of the same range and class for all the computers in the network.

TCP/IP

Protocols are the set of rules, agree upon ways and communication standards that computer and devices use to communication with each other. TCP/IP stands for transmission control protocol/Internet protocol. TCP/IP is the standard protocol for network communication in LAN or WAN. All the devices and applications have to follow to same protocols to make network communication system.

Communication Devices

There are certain devices that are used in LAN/MAN/WAN and wireless networking. The most important devices are router, switch, hub, modem, NIC adapter, access points, broadband router and communication cables. Hub/Switch is a centralized device in a LAN and all the computers connect with the Hub/Switch. In case of failure of Hub/Switch the whole communication stops. Router routes the traffic to the destination based on the IP address of the source and destination computer. With the help of the routing table, the router chooses the best short possible path for data to be sent to its destination. Wireless routers and access points are used in the wireless networking.

Types of Networking

There are three main types of the computer networking such as LAN, MAN and WAN. A LAN covers a room or a building. A MAN covers a network in a city and a WAN covers wide areas such as in a city, country or a network between two or more countries. A LAN can be wired or wireless, MAN can be wired or Wireless and WAN can be through wireless communication technologies such as ISDN lines, frame relay and ATM.

Wireless Networking

Wireless networks are replacing the wired networks rapidly. The administrative control becomes less due to the removal of the bundle of cables in wireless network. The key components are wireless router, access points and PCMCIA LAN cards.

OSI Layers Model

To understand the communication process make the data communication process standardized, the ISO developed the OSI (open system interconnectivity, which defines the seven layers of the OSI model. These seven layers include Application, Presentation, Session, Transport, Network, Data Link and Physical layer. The detail on the OSI seven layers is covered in the separate topic of this website.

DHCP

DHCP stands for the dynamic host configuration protocol. As we know that a unique IP address is a must for communication in LAN, WAN or internet. Assume you are given the task to assign IP addresses to the 10,000 computers in a network. How would you assign? DHCP answers this questions and it assigns the unique IP addresses to all the computers from a given range. There is an administrative control and you can block, assign, lease, renew, specify duration for the IP address and you also do the many other administrative tasks on the DHCP.

DNS

DNS stands for domain name system. DNS translates (converts) the host name into the IP address and IP address into the host name. One thing is clear that the communication in a LAN private WAN or internet is based on the IP addresses. On internet every IP address is associated with the domain name let’s say assume that the IP address 120.1.1.1. is assigned to www.yahoo.com, 12.1.2.3 is assigned to www.google.com and 35.22.32.5 is assigned to www.msn.com and so on. Just imagine that how many IP addresses you can remember 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100 or 1000. IP addresses are actually difficult to remember and domain names are easy so every IP address on the internet is associated with a domain name.

Wi-Fi

Wireless fidelity is a base band wireless networking technology that provides high speed internet connectivity to the offices and home users.

Wi-Max

Wi-Max is an advance broadband wireless network technology that provides very high speed up to 70 Mbps. Wi-Max is designed for the corporate office, roaming and home users.

Internet is an example of Network

Internet is the largest network in the work. Millions of computers from all over the world are internetworked with each other and are the part of the internet. The resources hosted on one computer in one part of the world such as web pages, songs files, graphics, video files, documents and images are accessible to the users in another part of the world.

Introduction to the Network Communication Technology

Here you will learn network communication technology, LAN, WAN, satellite transmission, wireless technology, mobile and Bluetooth technology. Communication is the process of exchanging information and ideas. There are many ways of communication and many different language systems are involved in it. Communication is the successful transmission of the information through a system of symbols, writing, signals, speech or signs. Today computer is available everywhere so there is a need of sharing data and other programs among the different computers. Now a user in one part of the world can communicate with a user at different part of the world by means of computer transmission system.

have tried to explain the concepts of data communication and computer networks, identify different components of a compute network, explain the protocols involve in the communication and understand the different types of the network communication such as LAN, WAN, wireless transmission, radio transmission and satellite communication. The basic elements of the communicating system are sender, medium and receiver. In data transmission these four elements are frequently used such as data, signals, signaling and transmission. A computer network is consisting of two or more computers connected together using a telecommunication system for sharing data and resources.

Communication Protocols

It is very interesting to know that how computers send and receive the information across the communication links. Computers do this job by the help of data communication software. It is software that enables computers to communicate with each other. The data transmission software tells the devices and computers how to send information to the other computers. The software that is used for the data transmission is known as protocol. The data transmission software or protocols perform the following basic functions.

1. Data sequencing: A long message is broken up into the smaller packets of fixed size for the error free transmission.
2. Data Routing: In the data routing process the most efficient route is to find to send the data from the source to the destination.
3. Flow control: The flow control regulates the process of sending data between fast sender and slow receiver.
4. Error Control: Error detection and recovery is the most important factor of the data transmission software (protocols). It ensures the error free transmission of the data.