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Networking
Networking advantages and Internet connection sharing, tends to be the main reasons behind getting a home network. Each of the PC's connecting to the Internet through a single Internet connection in your house with a split connection. Also being able to share files and printer use between computers makes it easier to share resources.
When choosing a network type for your home, four things should be considered; cost, expandability, PC location and speed. Each of the following network types offer a solution for a home and a good value for the money.
Ethernet:
The most popular network type for both home and business is Ethernet. Ethernet is fastest of all network types and can be the least expensive. Ethernet networks are very stable and your network speed will never fluctuate or be prone to interference which can occur with other types of networks. Ethernet requires special cables running from each computer to be plugged into a central hub or switch. If your computers are far apart, running cables between PC's may be difficult. Pre-made ethernet cables come in sizes ranging from 3 feet to 50 feet. Ethernet adapters come in many shapes and sizes, but PCI Ethernet cards are both the fastest and least expensive.
Ethernet can operate at 10Mbps or 100Mbps. 100Mbps or 10/100Mbps equipment is more efficient than 10Mbps equipment which is older and slower than the 10/100Mbps equipment. Price difference between 100Mbps, 10/100Mbps and 10Mbps has become negligible. Although older 10Mbps equipment will work just fine on 10/100Mbps networks.
If only two computers are being connected to an ethernet network, a single crossover cable can be used instead of the standard cable and switch method.
Phone Line Networks:
Phone line networks offer a balance between speed, price, and ease of installation. Phone Line Networks, known as HomePNA networks, utilize your existing phone line wiring in your home and allow the same phone wires to operate your network/modem or voice call at the same time. HomePNA is available in two standards 1.0 and the new 2.0. They operate at 1Mbps and 10Mbps respectively. Since the price difference has become negligible, 10Mps with Home PNA 2.0 is suggested. HomePNA speeds are subject to the quality of the phone lines in your home and certain kinds of interference. It is not uncommon for speeds of only 5Mbps to be reachable in many homes.
Networking Definitions
Broadband
A broadband is a network that has multiple independent servers that are all connected to single cables. Multiple networks can operate together at the same time. Information from one network will not interfere with information from another network due to the use of different frequencies.
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Digital Subscriber Line/Loop
(DSL)
DSL is a high-speed internet connection that is carried by normal phone lines using a digital modem. DSL is always on and it integrates voice and data funcionality. They say that it supports data rates of 8,448 Kbps, but normally a user would get rates anywhere from 1, 544Kbps to 90Kbps.
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Extranet
Refers to an intranet that is partially accessible to authorized outsider users. Different from an intranet which resides behind a firewall that is accessible only to people who are members of the same company or organization. An extranet provides various levels of accessibility to outsiders. You can access an extranet only if you have a valid username and password (account), and your account determines which parts of the extranet you can view. Extranets are becoming very popular for business's to exchange information.
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HUB
A hub is a small, simple, inexpensive device that joins multiple computers together at a low-level network protocol layer.
Most hubs manufactured today support the Ethernet standard. A person plugs one end of an Ethernet cable (that has an RJ-45 connector attached) into the hub, while the other end of the cable runs to the computer's network interface card (NIC). Non-Ethernet also exist that will use other ports such as the USB port.
One good way to differentiate between Ethernet hubs is by the speed (data rate) they
support. The most basic Ethernet hubs support 10 Mbps speeds. Newer hubs support a 100
Mbps Ethernet. Some hubs, to help users move ahead to the newer technology while still
supporting the old 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps data rates. These are dual-speed hubs.
Another common differentiator in hubs is the number of ports they support. Four- and
five-port hubs are most common in home networks, but eight- and 16-port hubs can be
found in some home and small office environments.
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IEEE 1394
(Firewire)
IEEE 1394 is a way to connect storage, digital video and many other devices to a computer. Apple created it and trademarked it Firewire. Their version of IEEE 1394 has a bandwith of 40MB/s. The most advanced one can hold up to 63 devices as long as there are other hubs to help with the load. IEEE 1394 is mainly used to synchronize information. This helps mainly with video equipment.
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Intranet
(Private Network)
An intranet is the collection of private computer networks within an organization. Intranets generally use standard network technologies like Ethernet and TCP/IP. An organization's intranet often enjoys Internet access but is firewalled so that its computers cannot be reached directly from the public Internet. (An extranet opens "holes" in the firewall for select outsiders.)
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Internet
(Net, Information Superhighway, Cyberspace)
The internet is a network of all the computers all over the world that communicate with eachother by using TCP/IP protocols. The internet includes several services, such as email, file transfer,chat and the World Wide Web.
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Internet Protocal
(IP)
The IP is the most used network protocol around. Data is transfered over and IP-based network using what is called a packet. Each packet has a header which specifies source, destination and other infromation about the data being transfered) and the actuall data itself. The most current IP is IPv6. The adresses contain 128-bits which is able to assign an IP to 340,282,366,920,938, 463,463,374,607,431,768,211,45 different users. This is enough to supply an address to every computer that is on the internet.
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Modem
It is a device that transfers and receives computer data between analog form which is used on telephone lines and the digital form used on computers for the purpose of computer to computer communication.
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Network Adress Translation
(NAT)
NAT takes each private IP address and translates is into a different public address or many private addresses. The NAT software scans both incoming and outgoung packents on your network. It then changes the destination address in the IP header in order to reflect the mapping between the interal and external addressing for your network.
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Protocol
A network protocol defines a "language" of rules and conventions for communication between devices. A protocol includes formatting rules that specify how data is packaged into messages. It also may include conventions like message acknowledgment or data compression to support reliable and/or high-performance Communication.
Many protocols exist in computer networking ranging from high level (like SOAP) to low level (like ARP). The Internet Protocol family includes IP and higher-level network protocols such as TCP, UDP, HTTP, and FTP. Some protocols, like TCP/IP, have also been implemented in silicon hardware for optimized performance.
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Router
A router is a piece of hardware that connects one or more networks together. A router is technically a "layer three gateway". This means that it connects networks the same way that gateways do and it also operates at the network layer (three) of the OSI model.
In a home network, and Internet Protocol (IP) router is normally used. IP routers such as a DSL or cable modem router will connect to the LAN (local area network) to the WAN (wide-area network) of the internet. The routing table in most routers inables it to filter traffic based on the IP addresses. The router automatically updates the routing table from a Web browser interface.
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Firewall
A firewall protects you computer from people with unauthorized access (i.e. hackers). A firewall could be hardware or software or even both. Firewalls can not only keep users out but keep the users from the inside to access certain things on the outside of the firewall.
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