Dictionary: *M*M ain Entry: net·work·ing *F*F unction: noun *1*1 : the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically: the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business *2*2 : the establishment or use of a computer network

*N*N etwork *i*i s a group of systems that are connected to allow sharing of resources— such as files or printers—or sharing of services—such as an Internet connection. *T*T here are two aspects of setting up a network: *t*t he hardware used to connect the systems together *t*t he software installed on the computers to allow them to communicate. *T*T he network hardware is made up of two basic components: *t*t he entities that want to share the information or resources *S*S ervers and workstations *t*t he medium that enables the entities to communicate *a*a cable or a wireless medium

*A*A typical network involves having users sit at workstations, running such applications as word processors or spreadsheet programs. *a*a lso known as a client, which is just a basic computer running a client operating system such as Windows XP or Linux. *S*S erver * i s a special computer that contains more disk space and memory than are found on client workstations. *h*h as special software installed that allows it to function as a server. *c*c an provide file and print services, provide web pages to clients, or provide functionality to the company. *H*H ost *r*r efers to any computer or device that is connected to a network and sends or receives information on that network. *c*c an be a server, a workstation, a printer with its own network card, or a device such as a router. *a*a ny system or device that is connected to the network

*l*l ocal area network (LAN) *t*t ypically is confined to a single building, such as an office building, your home network, or a college campus. *w*w ide area network (WAN) *s*s pans multiple geographic locations and is typically made up of multiple LANs. *m*m etropolitan area network (MAN) *i*i s not used often anymore; it refers to a network that exists within a single city or metropolitan area.

*N*N etworks can be divided into one of two categories: *p*p eer-to-peer *s*s erver-based networks *P*P eer-to-Peer Network *h*h as no dedicated servers; instead, a number of workstations are connected together for the purpose of sharing information or devices. *a*a ll workstations are considered equal; any one of them can participate as the client or the server *T*T he Microsoft term for a peer-to-peer network is a workgroup. Be aware that peer-to-peer networks typically consist of fewer than 10 systems. *a*a dvantage - “cheap” network solution *d*d isadvantage - the lack of centralized administration *n*n eed to build user accounts and configure security on each system.

*S*S erver-Based Networks *t*t he advantage of a server-based network is that the data files that will be used by all of the users are stored on the one server. *t*t his will help you by giving you a central point to set up permissions on the data files, and it will give you a central point from which to back up all of the data in case data loss should occur. *t*t he network server stores a list of users who may use network resources and usually holds the resources as well.

*S*S erver-Based Networks *d*d ifferent roles that a server could play on a network: *F*F ile and print servers *A*A pplication servers *W*W eb servers *D*D irectory servers

*S*S erver-Based Networks *F*F ile and print servers *c*c ontrol and share printers and files among clients on the network *f*f ile servers often have the following characteristics: *L*L arge amounts of memory *F*F ast hard disks *M*M ultiple CPUs *F*F ast I/O buses *H*H igh-capacity tape drives *F*F ast network adapters *R*R edundant power supplies *H*H ot-swappable hard disks and power supplies *f*f ile and print servers also check the access control list (ACL) of each resource before allowing a user to access a file or use a printer.

*S*S erver-Based Networks *A*A pplication servers *a*a re servers that run some form of special program on the server *a*a good example of an application server is a server that runs the company’s server. *d*d atabase server is a server that holds the company’s core business data and typically gives this data to custom applications that run on the workstations. *M*M icrosoft SQL Server *O*O racle *M*M icrosoft Exchange Server *I*I BM Lotus Domino

*S*S erver-Based Networks *W*W eb servers *a*a re servers that run the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and are designed to publish information on the Internet or the corporate intranet *D*D irectory servers *h*h old a list of the user accounts that are allowed to log on to the network *t*t his list of user accounts is stored in a database (known as the directory database) and can store information about these user accounts such as address, city, phone number, and fax number