Networking For Dummies

Doug Lowe is the bestselling author of Networking For Dummies and Networking All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies. His 50+ books include more than 30 in the For Dummies series. He has demystified everything from Microsoft Office and memory management to client/server computing and creating web pages.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 2Icons Used in This Book 3Beyond the Book 3Where to Go from Here 4Part 1: Getting Started with Networking 5Chapter 1: Let’s Network! 7Defining a Network 8Why Bother with a Network? 11Sharing files 11Sharing resources 11Sharing programs 12Sharing messages 12Servers and Clients 13Dedicated Servers and Peers 13What Makes a Network Tick? 15It’s Not a Personal Computer Anymore! 16The Network Administrator 17What Have They Got That You Don’t Got? 18Chapter 2: Configuring Windows and Mac Clients 21Configuring Windows Network Connections 22Joining a Windows Computer to a Domain 27Configuring Mac Network Settings 29Joining a Mac Computer to a Domain 33Chapter 3: Life on the Network 37Distinguishing between Local Resources and Network Resources 38What’s in a Name? 38Logging on to the Network 40Understanding Shared Folders 42Four Good Uses for a Shared Folder 43Store files that everybody needs 43Store your own files 44Make a temporary resting place for files on their way to other users 44Back up your local hard drive 45Oh, the Network Places You’ll Go 45Mapping Network Drives 47Using a Network Printer 50Adding a network printer 51Printing to a network printer 52Playing with the print queue 53Logging off the Network 55Chapter 4: More Ways to Use Your Network 57Sharing Your Stuff 57Enabling File and Printer Sharing 58Sharing a Folder 59Using the Public Folder 61Sharing a Printer 62Using Microsoft Office on a Network 64Accessing network files 64Using workgroup templates 65Networking an Access database 67Working with Offline Files 68Part 2: Designing Your Network 73Chapter 5: Planning a Network 75Making a Network Plan 75Being Purposeful 76Taking Stock 77What you need to know 77Programs that gather information for you 79To Dedicate or Not to Dedicate: That Is the Question 80File servers 81Print servers 81Web servers 82Mail servers 82Database servers 83Application servers 83License servers 83Choosing a Server Operating System 83Planning the Infrastructure 84Drawing Diagrams 84Chapter 6: Dealing with TCP/IP 87Understanding Binary 88Counting by ones 88Doing the logic thing 89Introducing IP Addresses 90Networks and hosts 90The dotted-decimal dance 91Classifying IP Addresses 91Class A addresses 92Class B addresses 93Class C addresses 93Subnetting 94Subnets 95Subnet masks 96The great subnet roundup 97Private and public addresses 98Understanding Network Address Translation 98Configuring Your Network for DHCP 99Understanding DHCP 100DHCP servers 100Understanding scopes 101Feeling excluded? 102Reservations suggested 103How long to lease? 104Managing a Windows Server 2019 DHCP Server 104Configuring a Windows DHCP Client 105Using DNS 106Domains and domain names 106Fully qualified domain names 108Working with the Windows DNS Server 109Configuring a Windows DNS Client 110Chapter 7: Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave: Cables and Switches 111What Is Ethernet? 112All about Cable 114Cable categories 116What’s with the pairs? 117To shield or not to shield 117When to use plenum cable 118Sometimes solid, sometimes stranded 118Installation guidelines 119The tools you need 120Pinouts for twisted-pair cables 121RJ-45 connectors 122Crossover cables 124Wall jacks and patch panels 124Understanding Switches 126Comparing managed and unmanaged switches 126Daisy-chaining switches 128Stacking switches 128Looking at distribution switches and access switches 129Powering Up with Power over Ethernet 130Looking at Three Types of Network Rooms 131Chapter 8: Setting Up a Wireless Network 133Diving into Wireless Networking 134A Little High School Electronics 135Waves and frequencies 135Wavelength and antennas 137Spectrums and the FCC 137Eight-Oh-Two-Dot-Eleventy Something: Understanding Wireless Standards 139Home on the Range 140Using Wireless Network Adapters 141Setting Wireless Access Points 142Infrastructure mode 142Multifunction WAPs 143Roaming Capabilities 144Wireless bridging 144Ad-hoc networks 145Configuring a Wireless Access Point 145Basic configuration options 146DHCP configuration 146Connecting to a Wireless Network 147Paying Attention to Wireless Network Security 149Chapter 9: Connecting to the Internet 155Connecting to the Internet 155Connecting with cable or DSL 156Connecting with high-speed private lines 157Sharing an Internet connection 158Securing Your Connection with a Firewall 159Using a firewall 159Comparing residential gateways to firewall routers 161Looking at the built-in Windows firewall 161Providing a Backup Internet Connection 163Part 3: Working with Servers 165Chapter 10: Virtualizing Your Network 167Understanding Virtualization 167Understanding Hypervisors 169Understanding Virtual Disks 171Understanding Network Virtualization 173Looking at the Benefits of Virtualization 174Choosing Virtualization Hosts 176Understanding Windows Server 2019 Licensing 176Introducing Hyper-V 178Understanding the Hyper-V hypervisor 178Understanding virtual disks 179Enabling Hyper-V 180Getting Familiar with Hyper-V 181Creating a Virtual Switch 182Creating a Virtual Disk 184Creating a Virtual Machine 188Installing an Operating System 192Chapter 11: Setting Up a Windows Server 195Planning a Windows Server Installation 196Checking system requirements 196Reading the release notes 196Considering your licensing options 196Deciding your TCP/IP configuration 197Choosing workgroups or domains 197Running Setup 198Adding Server Roles and Features 203Creating a New Domain 208Chapter 12: Managing Windows User Accounts 213Understanding How Active Directory Is Organized 214Objects 214Domains 215Organizational units 215Trees 216Forests 216Understanding Windows User Accounts 216Local accounts versus domain accounts 216User account properties 217Creating a New User 217Setting User Properties 220Changing the user’s contact information 220Setting account options 221Specifying logon hours 223Restricting access to certain computers 223Setting the user’s profile information 224Resetting User Passwords 225Disabling and Enabling User Accounts 226Deleting a User 226Working with Groups 227Creating a group 227Adding a member to a group 228Creating a Logon Script 230Chapter 13: Managing Network Storage 231Understanding Disk Storage 231Hard disk drives 231Solid state drives to the rescue! 234It’s a RAID! 234Three ways to attach disks to your servers 236Focusing on File Servers 237Understanding permissions 237Understanding shares 239Managing Your File Server 240Using the New Share Wizard 241Sharing a folder without the wizard 245Granting permissions 247Part 4: Managing Your Network 251Chapter 14: Welcome to Network Management 253What a Network Administrator Does 254Choosing the Part-Time Administrator 255The Three “Ups” of Network Management 256Managing Network Users 257Acquiring Software Tools for Network Administrators 258Building a Library 259Pursuing Certification 260Helpful Bluffs and Excuses 261Chapter 15: Supporting Your Users 263Establishing the Help Desk’s Charter 264Tracking Support Tickets 265Deciding How to Communicate with Users 267Using Remote Assistance 268Enabling Remote Assistance 269Inviting someone to help you via a Remote Assistance session 270Responding to a Remote Assistance invitation 273Creating a Knowledge Base 275Creating a Self-Service Help Portal 275Using Satisfaction Surveys 276Tracking Help Desk Performance 278Using Help Desk Management Software 279Chapter 16: Using Group Policy 281Understanding Group Policy 281Enabling Group Policy Management on Windows Server 2019 282Creating Group Policy Objects 283Filtering Group Policy Objects 289Forcing Group Policy Updates 292Chapter 17: Managing Software Deployment 293Understanding Software Licenses 294Using a License Server 297Deploying Network Software 298Deploying software manually 298Running Setup from a network share 299Installing silently 300Creating an administrative installation image 301Pushing out software with Group Policy 302Keeping Software Up to Date 302Chapter 18: Managing Mobile Devices 305The Many Types of Mobile Devices 306Considering Security for Mobile Devices 307Managing iOS Devices 308Understanding the iPhone 308Understanding the iPad 309Integrating iOS devices with Exchange 309Configuring an iOS device for Exchange email 311Managing Android Devices 314Looking at the Android OS 314Perusing Android’s core applications 315Integrating Android with Exchange 316Part 5: Securing Your Network 317Chapter 19: Welcome to Cybersecurity Network 319Do You Need Security? 320The Three Pillars of Cybersecurity 321Two Approaches to Security 322Physical Security: Locking Your Doors 323Securing User Accounts 324Obfuscating your usernames 324Using passwords wisely 325Generating passwords For Dummies 326Secure the Administrator account 328Managing User Security 328User accounts 329Built-in accounts 330User rights 331Permissions (who gets what) 331Group therapy 332User profiles 333Logon scripts 334Securing the Human Firewall 334Chapter 20: Hardening Your Network 337Firewalls 337The Many Types of Firewalls 339Packet filtering 339Stateful packet inspection (SPI) 341Circuit-level gateway 342Application gateway 342Next-generation firewall 343Virus Protection 343What is a virus? 343Antivirus programs 345Safe computing 346Patching Things Up 346Chapter 21: Securing Your Email 349Defining Spam 350Sampling the Many Flavors of Spam 351Using Antispam Software 352Understanding Spam Filters 353Looking at Three Types of Antispam Software 356On-premises antispam 356Antispam appliances 357Cloud-based antispam services 358Minimizing Spam 359Chapter 22: Backing Up Your Data 3613-2-1: The Golden Rule of Backups 361How Often Should You Back Up Your Data? 363Choosing Where to Back Up Your Data 364Establishing Two Key Backup Objectives 365Backing Up to Tape 366Understanding Backup Software 367Examining File-Based Backups 368Full backups 369Copy backups 370Incremental backups 370Differential backups 371Backup and Virtualization 371Verifying Tape Reliability 373Keeping Backup Equipment Clean and Reliable 374Setting Backup Security 375Chapter 23: Planning for Disaster 377Assessing Different Types of Disasters 378Environmental disasters 379Deliberate disasters 379Disruption of services 380Equipment failure 380Other disasters 381Analyzing the Impact of a Disaster 381Developing a Business Continuity Plan 382Holding a Fire Drill 383Part 6: More Ways to Network 385Chapter 24: Accommodating Remote Users 387Using Outlook Web App 388Using a Virtual Private Network 389Looking at VPN security 390Understanding VPN servers and clients 391Connecting with Remote Desktop Connection 393Enabling Remote Desktop Connection 394Connecting remotely 395Using keyboard shortcuts for Remote Desktop 397Chapter 25: Life in Cloud City 399Introducing Cloud Computing 400Looking at the Benefits of Cloud Computing 401Detailing the Drawbacks of Cloud Computing 402Examining Three Basic Kinds of Cloud Services 403Applications 404Platforms 404Infrastructure 405Public Clouds versus Private Clouds 405Introducing Some of the Major Cloud Providers 406Amazon 406Google 407Microsoft 407Getting into the Cloud 408Chapter 26: Going Hybrid 409What Is a Hybrid Cloud? 409What Are the Benefits of Hybrid Cloud? 411Elasticity 411Flexibility 412Agility 412Innovation 412Operational efficiency 412Integrating Identity 413Azure Active Directory 413Single sign-on 414Looking at Hybrid Cloud Virtualization Platforms 416Part 7: The Part of Tens 419Chapter 27: Ten Networking Commandments 421I Thou Shalt Back Up Thy Data Religiously 421II Thou Shalt Protect Thy Network from Infidels 422III Thou Shalt Train Up Thy Users in the Ways of Safe Computing 422IV Thou Shalt Keepeth Thy Network Drive Pure and Cleanse It of Old Files 423V Thou Shalt Not Tinker with Thine Network Configuration unless Thou Knowest What Thou Art Doing 423VI Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Network 423VII Thou Shalt Not Take Down Thy Network without Proper Notification 424VIII Thou Shalt Keep an Adequate Supply of Spare Parts 424IX Thou Shalt Not Steal Thy Neighbor’s Program without a License 424X Thou Shalt Write Down Thy Network Configuration upon Tablets of Stone 425Chapter 28: Ten Big Network Mistakes 427Skimping on Hardware 427Turning Off or Restarting a Server Computer While Users Are Logged On 428Deleting Important Files on the Server 429Copying a File from the Server, Changing It, and Then Copying It Back 429Sending Something to the Printer Again Just Because It Didn’t Print the First Time 430Assuming That the Server Is Safely Backed Up 430Connecting to the Internet without Considering Security Issues 430Plugging in a Wireless Access Point without Asking 431Thinking You Can’t Work Just Because the Network Is Down 431Running Out of Space on a Server 432Always Blaming the Network 433Chapter 29: Ten Things You Should Keep in Your Closet 435Duct Tape 435Tools 436Patch Cables 436Cable Ties and Velcro 436Twinkies 437Replacement Parts 437Cheap Network Switches 438The Complete Documentation of the Network on Tablets of Stone 438The Network Manuals and Disks 438Ten Copies of This Book 439Index 441