Understanding
and Troubleshooting
Your PC
Chapter Objectives
In this chapter, you will learn:
– About networks, network protocols, and network
architectures
– How networking works with Windows
– How to install a network card, connect to a
network, and share network resources
– About Internet technologies and how to access the
Internet
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Network Types and Architectures
A network is a collection of computers and
devices connected together to share
resources, such as hardware, software, data,
and information
Bandwidth refers to the amount of data that
can travel over a given communication system
in a given amount of time
A PC makes a direct connection to a network
by way of a network adapter
– Network interface card (NIC)
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LANs, MANs, and WANs
A local area network (LAN) connects
computers and devices in a relatively small
area
A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a highspeed network that connects LANs in a
metropolitan area such as a city or town
A wide area network (WAN) covers a large
geographic area
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Physical Network Topologies
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Logical Network Architecture
The network architecture is a logical model
that defines the design and interaction of the
computers, devices, and media on a network
– Client/Server
• One or more computers acts as a server and the other
computers on the network request services from the
server
– Peer-to-Peer
• Each computer on the network has equal responsibilities
and capabilities on the network
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Logical Network Architecture
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Network Hardware Protocols
 Network protocols are rules that define how the
hardware devices and software operate and work
together
– Ethernet
• Hardware protocol that allows nodes to contend for access to the
network
– Token Ring and FDDI
• Token ring is an older LAN technology that controls access to the
network by requiring devices on the network to pass a special signal
called a token
• FDDI is similar to token ring, but uses a dial-ring approach
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Types of Ethernet
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Types of Network Cables
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Configuring Ethernet Networks
Ethernet networks can be configured using
either a bus or star topology
A bridge typically connects one LAN to another
LAN that uses the same hardware protocol
A switch works much like a bridge, but does
not broadcast messages
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Configuring Ethernet Networks
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Wireless LANs
 Wireless LAN (WLAN) technology uses radio waves or
infrared light instead of cables or wires to connect computers
or other devices
 A computer connects to a wireless LAN using a wireless NIC
 A device can communicate directly with another device, or it
can connect to a LAN by way of a wireless access point (AP)
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Wireless LANs:
802.11 Standards
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How NICs Work
A NIC is designed to support one of the
network hardware protocols
A NIC can be internal or external
Before sending data from a computer, a NIC
must convert the data into a signal that is
appropriate for network cabling
– The component on the card responsible for this
signal conversion is called the transceiver
– Ethernet cards that accommodate different cabling
media are called combo cards
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How NICs Work
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Network Protocols
 Windows supports three suites of network protocols:
– TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol)
– IPX/SPX (Internetwork Packet Exchange / Sequenced
Packet Exchange)
– NetBEUI (NetBIOS Extended User Interface)
 Binding occurs when an operating system-level
protocol such as TCP/IP associates itself with a
lower-level hardware protocol such as Ethernet
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Addressing on a Network
 A MAC (Media Access Control) address is a 6-byte
address, often expressed as six pairs of hexadecimal
numbers and letters, often separated by hyphens
 An IP address is a 32-bit address consisting of a
series of four 8-bit numbers separated by periods
 A port number identifies a program or service running
on a computer to communicate over the network
 Character-based names are used to identify a PC on
a network with easy-to-remember letters rather than
numbers
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MAC Addresses
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IP Addresses
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Port Numbers
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How Computers Find Each Other
on a LAN
DNS (Domain Name System) is a system that
determines the IP address associated with
host names and domain names
– DNS Server
WINS (Windows Internet Naming Service) is a
system that determines the IP address
associated with a client or server computer
running on a Windows network using the
NetBEUI protocol
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Connecting to a Network
Install the Network Interface Card
Name the computer on the network
Connect to the network
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Installing a Wireless NIC
and Connecting to a Wireless LAN
Install any software that came with the NIC
Install the wireless NIC
Start the PC and install the drivers
– The NIC will attempt to connect to access points
already set up
Consult the documentation if the wireless
connection is not working
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Installing a Wireless NIC
and Connecting to a Wireless LAN
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Sharing Files, Folders,
and Applications
 If users on a LAN need to
share applications, files, or
printers, then all these users
must be assigned to the
same domain or workgroup
on the LAN
 To share resources, you first
must install Client for
Microsoft Networks and File
and Printer Sharing
– These two components are
installed by default when you
install Windows XP using the
Typical setting
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Mapping a Network Drive
 Mapping a network drive
is one of the most
powerful and versatile
methods of
communicating over a
network
 The mapped drive
appears as if it is a drive
directly on the PC
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Troubleshooting a Network
Connection
Some methods and steps to resolve
networking issues:
– Determine whether other computers on the
network are having trouble with their connections
– Make sure the NIC and its drivers are installed
– Check the network cable
– Connect the network cable to a different port on
the hub
– Ping and Ipconfig
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Routers
A router is a communications device that
manages the delivery of data traveling over
interconnected networks
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TCP/IP Suite of Protocols
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Connecting to the Internet:
Dial-up Modems
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Connecting to the Internet:
DSL Modems
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Connecting to the Internet:
Cable Modems
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Connecting to the Internet
Using Dial-up Networking
To connect to the Internet over a telephone line
using a dial-up connection, you need to have a
modem installed on your PC
When a Windows PC connects to a network
using a modem and regular telephone line, the
process is called dial-up networking
– The modem on your PC acts like a network card
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How Dial-up Networking Works
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Using a Dial-up Connection
in Windows XP
In order for your PC to connect to your ISP and
use the Internet, you must know:
– The dial-up access telephone number of the ISP
– Your user ID and password for the ISP
– If DNS servers will be assigned at connection
– How your IP address will be assigned
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Installing and Configuring
a Cable Modem
Install the network card and drivers to control
the card
Use a network cable to connect the PC to a
cable modem or DSL box
Install TCP/IP to bind TCP/IP to the card
Configure TCP/IP using the settings provided
by the cable service provider
Test the connection using application software
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Installing and Configuring
a DSL Modem
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Implementing a Firewall
 A firewall can function in several ways:
– Firewalls can filter data packets, examining the destination
IP address or source IP address or the type of protocol
used (for example, TCP or UDP)
– Firewalls can filter ports so outside clients cannot
communicate with inside services listening at these ports
– Firewalls can filter applications such as FTP so users inside
the firewall cannot use this service over the Internet
– Some firewalls can filter information such as inappropriate
Web content for children or employees
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Hardware Firewall
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Software Firewall
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Accessing Internet Resources Using
a Web Browser
 A Web browser is a software application on a user’s
PC that is used to request Web pages from a Web
server on the Internet or an intranet
 A Web page is a document on the Web identified by a
unique URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
 HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) can be
interpreted by a Web browser to display formatted
text, graphics, images, forms, and so on
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How a URL is Structured
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Chapter Summary
In this chapter, you learned:
– About networks, network protocols, and network
architectures
– How networking works with Windows
– How to install a network card, connect to a
network, and share network resources
– About Internet technologies and how to access the
Internet
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44
Understanding
and Troubleshooting
Your PC
Chapter 10 Complete