Setting Up A Home Network Class

The first of two classes on home computer networks offered at NYPC, this class covers:

• A brief comparison of wired vs. wireless networks 
• Sharing files, folders and printers on a network of Windows computers 
• IP addresses and subnets 
• DHCP and configuring TCP/IP
• Network attached storage

The topic on configuring TCP/IP covers the options needed when configuring TCP/IP networking software with any computer. Specifically, we cover DNS Servers, Default gateways and DHCP servers. The IP address topic explains subnet masks. For sharing printers, we discuss both using a Windows computer and using a hardware Print Server. Network attached storage refers to external hard disks that, instead of connecting to a computer, plug into an Ethernet port. This makes the hard disk available to all the computers on the network. 

This is the first of two classes on the subject. The second class, covers configuring a home router, firewalls and wireless WiFi networks. 

Schedule: The class was offered May 2, 2005 at the NYPC User Group. It is currently not scheduled again. However, I am teaching this material and more as part of a Computer Networking For Home Use class at Hunter College. 

Why You Want Your Own Network By Brian Underdahl. Sample Chapter is provided courtesy of Cisco Press. October 29, 2004. For the novice, networking can seem like an intimidating concept, but this chapter will help you to manage your fear of networks and discover the joys of a home network.

Windows File Sharing

• Windows XP Professional File Sharing by Ron Lowe and Steve Winograd December 12, 2001. At practicallynetworked.com. 
• Establish the correct file-sharing permissions in Windows XP by TechRepublic Staff August 20 2002
• How to configure file sharing in Windows XP from Microsoft. Discusses Simple File Sharing only. 
• Windows Networking 101 by Steve Gibson
• Windows 2000/XP file and printer sharing problems at Tom's Networking

 Network Attached Storage 

• Net Drives PC World magazine December 29, 2004. Got multiple PCs and a network? New net-ready hard drives are a smart, affordable way to back up and share data.
• Network Storage for Home and Business PC World magazines top 10 products 
• Buffalo LinkStation Network Storage Center reviewed by PC World magazine 
• NASLite can turn an old computer into a file server for $16. See my review. The vendor is Server Elements. 

 IP addresses

• Understanding IP Addressing: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know from 3Com. A 75 page PDF file that gets very technical. 
• IP address classes (image)
• IP address subnetting (image)
• Karen Kenworthy has a newsletter. The December 8, 2004 issue covers The Internet Protocol, IP Addresses and IP Datagrams
• What Is WhoIs? by Karen Kenworthy. March 15, 2005. An excellent explanation of where to find information on both IP addresses and domain names. She has written a free program that does this. 
• How do I figure out who owns an IP address? by Leo Notenboom October 16, 2004 
• dnsstuff.com has all sorts of TCP/IP inquiries including who owns an IP address 
• Find IP Address Information from webyield.net
• A mistake ridden example of IP addresses from PC Magazine. Feb 22, 2005. text  image

LAN Monitor a program from Karen Kenworthy, free for personal and home use, that lets you see your computer's connections and conversations across the Internet. 

TCPView from Sysinternals.com lets you see all open TCP and UDP endpoints. On Windows NT, 2000 and XP TCPView even displays the name of the process that owns each endpoint. Includes a command-line version, tcpvcon. Free! 

TDIMON from Sysinternals.com. Free! See TCP and UDP activity in real-time with this advanced network API monitoring tool. 

NetStat Live from AnalogX. Free. See network activity in real time. Screen shot