Chapter 3 plus others, such as keeping backup copies of

financial files on two computers.

Sharing Resources on a Network
Peer-to-Peer Networking for Office Use

- Peer-to-peer networking can make sense

What is Peer-to-Peer Networking?
for a small office for many of the same
- The peer-to-peer network is one of the reasons as home-based sharing of resources.
easiest ways to configure a network, often Also, peer-to-peer networking can be
used for home offices and small businesses. valuable in a small office to help make users
Workstations are used on a peer-to-peer more productive, enabling them to share
network to share resources, such as files information without having to walk from one
and printers, and to connect resources to desk to another to exchange an external
other computers. drive or flash drive.

Configuring User Accounts

- Most operating systems, including

Windows, UNIX/Linux and Mac OS X
Systems, manage access to shared resources
through user accounts. A computer user
Figure 3-1 A simple peer-to-peer network account could be compared to a bank
in a small office. account. A bank is a repository of resources
that can be accessed through bank accounts.
It is the number and security of the account
- Files, folders, software, printers, and used by the bank account.
peripherals on one computer can be shared
and made available to others. No special host - When sharing resources over a network,
computer, such as a server, is needed to you should first configure people's user
allow workstations to communicate and share accounts to access those resources.
resources, although in some cases the server
can be used as a powerful workstation.
Figure 3-1 above shows a peer-to-peer
network. Configuring User Accounts in Windows 7

- User accounts are configured and managed

through the Windows 7 Control Panel’s User
Accounts too. Three actions performed with
Peer-to-Peer Networking for Home Use User Accounts tool: Create an account,
- Many people have set up a peer-to-peer Modify an account, such as the password
network for home use. Even if your home has and Delete an account.
only two computers, a peer-to-peer network
can make sense of sharing a printer, an
Internet connection, and a file. If you have
more computers in your home, the network
makes even more sense for the same reasons
 Implementing a Virtual Private Network
(VPN)
Configuring Accounts in UNIX/Linux
- For organizations, one problem with sharing
- Access to shared resources on the
resources is how to make them securely
UNIX/Linux system is also managed via user
available to users who travel or work from
accounts. Each UNIX/Linux user account is
home. Another problem is secure
associated with the User Identification
communications for resources sharing
Number (UID). Also, users who have common
between a main business location and its
access needs can be assigned to a group
branch offices. One solution is to use a
using the Group Identification Number
virtual private network.
(GID) and then the access resource
permissions are assigned to the group - A Virtual Private Network is a private
instead of to each user. When the user logs network, which is like a private tunnel
on to access resources, the password file is through a larger network, such as the
checked to allow 1 to access resources. Internet, an enterprise network or both,
which is restricted to designated member
clients only. Its purpose is to provide very
secure networking for people connected

Configuring Accounts in Mac OS X through the Internet.

- You can also configure Mac OS X Snow - A VPN connection requires the use of a

Leopard and Lion for multiple accounts using remote access protocol to carry packets

the Accounts utility in System Preferences. over a WAN connection. The most common

When using Mac OS X in a home, public protocol for VPN security is IP security

library, or other child location, parental (IPsec). IPsec secures IP communications on

controls are useful features that can be the network layer of the OSI model.

configured. Types of accounts that can be - Some VPN networks use the Layer Two
created: Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) running inside

• Administrator: used to manage the IPsec for extra security. L2TP is using an

computer and operating system. additional standard called Layer Two

Forwarding. Allows forwarding on the basis
• Standard: grants access privileges for of MAC address in addition to IP address.
general users.

• Sharing only: grants access only to shared

resources (files and folders) but not
applications.

• Group: contains only other users or groups.

• Managed with parental controls:

establishes parental controls on an account.
Storage Area Networks (SAN)
- Some server-based networks centralize - A Virtual Private Network (VPN) enables
storage on a network in arrays of disk drives remote users to access shared resources
that are shared by users through network through secure tunnels.
servers. This arrangement is called a
- A Storage Area Network (SAN) can be
Storage Area Network. SAN, which is a
used to group storage devices on a subnet
grouping device that forms a subnet.
for sharing storage among multiple servers.
- The subnet containing the storage devices
typically use Fibre Channel or Internet
Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) Chapter 4
technology, is another high-speed technology Understanding an IP Address
in SANs that employs TCP/IP
communications and Small Computer System
Interface (SCI) disk drives. How IP addressing works
- In terms of the physical device, a SAN - Internet Protocols enable packets to
usually looks like a large box or chassis reach different sub-networks on a LAN and
enclosure containing disk drives, disk different networks on a WAN, provided that
controllers, and an interconnection device, such networks use transport options that
such as a switch, that connects to one or are TCP/IP compatible, including Ethernet,
more servers. FDDI, ISDN, DSL, Frame relay, ATM (with
conversion), MPLS, and SONET.

IP as a Connectionless Protocol

- IP is a connectionless protocol because its

primary mission is to provide network-to-
network addressing and routing information
and to change the size of packets when the
size varies from network to network, such as
from Ethernet to FDDI.

Figure 3-2 A basic Storage Area Network

SUMMARY

- Peer-to-peer networks are relatively easy

to set up and inexpensive to maintain. As Figure 4-1 TCP/IP Packet Encapsulation
networks grow in size and require more
centralized management, peer-to-peer is not
a good option. Also, configure file
permissions in Windows, Mac OS X, and Using Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4)
UNIX/Linux systems.
- IPv4 address format is called the dotted
decimal notation address. It is 32 bits long
and contains four fields, which are decimal
values representing 8-bit binary octets. An
IPv4 address in binary octet format looks
like
this:10000001.00000101.00001010.01100100
. This number converts to 129.5.10.100 in
decimal format. Part of the address is the
network identifier (network ID), and
another part is the host identifier (host
ID).

- There are five IP address classes, Class

A through Class E, and each is used with a
different type of network. The address
classes reflect the size of the network and
whether the packet is unicast or multicast. IPv4 Address Rules

• Unicast is a transmission in which one • Network number 127.0.0.0 cannot be

packet is sent from a server to each client assigned.
the requests a file or an application, as is
• Certain IP network numbers reserved as
done with a video presentation. If five
private.
clients request the video presentation, the
server sends five packets per each • No one can use private addresses on
transmission to the five clients. Internet.

• Multicast, means that the server is able to • Network number cannot be assigned to any
treat all five clients as a group and send one device.
packet per transmission that reaches all five • Highest number on a network cannot be
clients. Multicast can be used to assigned.
significantly reduce network traffic when
transmitting multimedia applications.

• Broadcast, which sends a communication to

all points on a specific network (router are
often configured so that they do not
Using Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)
forward broadcasts to other networks).
- IPv6 developed through IETF initiative.
The IPv6 overcomes limitations of IPv4,
because IPv4 has no provision for network
security or advanced routing options and
IPv4 offers no options for handling

Figure 4-2 IP address classes streaming video or video conferencing.IPv6

uses eight 16-bit hexadecimal fields

example:1042:0071:0000:0000:07ac:0522:2
10c:425b.
 the network ID and which is for the host
ID, example, and a subnet mask for a Class A
network is all binary ones in the first octet
and all binary 0s in the remaining octets:

11111111.00000000.00000000.00000000
(255.0.0.0).
Figure 4-5 Decimal Equivalents of 8-bit
Decimal Conversion Creating Subnetworks

- To divide the network into subnetworks,

the subnet mask contains a subnet ID,
determined by the network administrator,
which the network and hosts IDs. Example,
the entire third octet in a Class B address
could be designated to indicate the subnet
ID, which would be an octet of

11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000
(255.255.255.0).
Features of IPv6
- Note that using a subnet mask to divide a
• 128-bit address capability.
network into a series of smaller networks
• Single address associated with multiple enables Layer 3 device effectively ignore
interfaces. traditional address class designations, and
• Address auto configuration and CIDR therefore, creates more options for
addressing. segmenting networks through multiple
subnets ad additional network addresses. A
• 40-byte header instead of IPv4’s 20-byte newer way to ignore address class
header. designation is using Classless Interdomain
• New IP extension headers for special Routing (CIDR) addressing, which puts a
needs. slash (/) after the dotted decimal notation.
For example, 165.100.18.44/18, meaning 18
• Includes more routing and security options.
bits needed for network ID, 14 for host ID
• Use of IP security (IPsec). (32 -18).

• Simpler automatic address configuration.

• More compact and efficient routing tables. SUMMARY

• Replacement of ARP by Neighbor - IP enables data transfer and routing with

Discovery. packet addressing. UDP used with IP
(instead of TCP) in certain non-critical
situations.
The Role of Subnet Mask
- IPv4 is predominantly in use today but has
- TCP/IP address require a configured the limitation that IPv4 addresses are
subnet mask. A subnet mask is used for two almost all used up.
purposes: to show the class of addressing
- IPv6 is the newest version of IP which is
used, and to divide a network into sub
not yet employed on many networks.
networks to control network traffic. The
subnet mask enables an application to - A subnetting, or sub networking, is the
determine which part of the address is for process of splitting a single large network
into two or more strands. This means that an
otherwise mammoth and unwieldy network
can be subdivided into smaller, more
localized networks.

- The IP Configuration window configures

the Internet Protocol parameters, allowing
the device to receive and send IP packets.
In its factory default configuration, the
switch operates as a multiport learning
bridge with network connectivity provided
by the ports on the switch.