The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Networking Resources Major Keary majkeary@netspace.com.au

There was a time when networking solutions were proprietary, each mainframe vendor having its own system that excluded connection to anyone else's hardware. It was an effective way of locking clients into a single vendor. That has all changed, and even novices can now set up a network.

Generally speaking there are two distinct areas of networking: the kind of thing appropriate to a SOHO environment or just home use, and the rest (which can include small, large, or huge systems). It is worth remembering that most users are already involved in networking; after all, the Internet is the biggest of them all.

Home and Small Business Networking

A word of warning. You will come across mention of a technology that enables use of existing internal telephone cables for a network. American standards differ from ours; the network over phone cable system is unlikely to be approved for use here.

Another system employs internal electrical wiring; it has been used for years to carry intercom systems, but is too slow for data. Don't confuse it with systems that use high voltage transmission lines to carry data, which is an interesting development, but is not germane to this overview.

PC Network on a Shoestring Budget

The full title is, Build, Upgrade & Repair Your PC Network on a Shoestring Budget; titles don't come much longer than that. The book is in parts:

Part 1 is a brief, but sufficient, intro-duction to networking. It explains what a network can do for you, the user; provides some encouragement for those who wonder if they can really do it; and then explains the two main networking configurations (peer-to-peer and client-server) from which you will have to choose.

Part 2, Building Your Network, helps the reader to look at a system and address the question: what do I want to do with my network? It then looks at what is needed (NIC, cable, and so on). The book then moves on to the real business of installing and configuring network cards and making connections.

Part 3, Using Your Network, covers verification of a proper network card installation and some troubleshooting tips, then goes on to printer sharing (one of the main uses for a home network), email, network security, virus protection, and hard drive maintenance.

Other chapters cover the addition and configuration of peripherals (CD drives, modems, fax, scanners, and the like); making Internet connections; dial-up networking; and network troubleshooting.

Part 4, Upgrading Your Network, is about improving an existing network, replacing components (upgrading a CPU, replacing the motherboard, installing a new CD drive, increasing memory, adding hard drives, installing a modem, and mobile networking. The advice and warnings are practical and the information has good detail; it is worth reading this part before planning your first network.

A companion CD contains some useful utilities and video clips showing how to install interface cards, connect coax cabling, make 10BasT connections, and many more operations. Users new to networking and upgrading hardware should find it useful. There is also a collection of shareware diagnostic utilities.

Wayne Kawamoto: Build, Upgrade & Repair Your PC Network on a Shoestring ISBN 1-57610-411-7 Published by Coriolis, 403 pp. + CD RRP $4995

Home Networking Bible

Published in IDG's Bible series, Home Networking Bible is described as "Your complete resource [for] planning, set up, troubleshooting, and more". That's a fair statement, although the book is Win95/98 oriented.

In fact the book goes beyond what one would think of as `home use' and is a good resource for SOHO and medium-size business networks. As already mentioned, it assumes readers are using a Win95/98 system, but explains how to introduce Mac and Win2000 machines (Linux and Unix don't get a mention).

The author works from simple things through to the more complex. Her explanations are good and novices should have no trouble in learning about networking.

A introduction is aimed at helping readers assess what kind of network and methodology is best suited to their needs, and explains client-server and peer-to-peer configurations.

About a fifth of the book is given over to planning and setting up networking hardware and software. That is about average for this kind of text; installing and configuring the hardware is just one part of the process-getting it to work and putting it to use constitute something else. A substantial part of the book is about working with files, folders, and applications in the Win95/98 environment, an important facet of networking. The coverage, which extends to working with the registry, is quite detailed.

Sue Plumley: Home Networking Bible ISBN 0-7645-3399-1 Published by IDG, 681 pp. RRP $65.00

Setting Up an Intranet Server

If you are keen to set up an intranet server on a Linux box there is a compact book, Setting Up a Linux Intranet Server. It is in the Visual Black Book series published by CoriolisOpen Press; the series make extensive use of graphics to communicate information to the reader.

The Linux novice is taken, step-by-step, through an installation of Red Hat and on to setting up an intranet server with Windows and Mac clients.

The authors decided that just describing a Linux installation was not enough. There had to be a real-world project to give their tutorial substance. For a small book it is amazing how much information has been packed in. Hardware is mentioned, but is not the primary focus. Apart from coverage of networking issues, it provides a very good Linux command line tutorial.

This is worth looking at just for the typographic design and the effective use of graphics.

Tsuji and Watanabe: Setting Up a Linux Intranet Server ISBN 1-57610-568-7 Published by Coriolis, 247 pp. RRP $39.95

What Cable Shall I Use?

Cabling lends itself to expensive mistakes in network design and installation, but the topic is not addressed in significant detail in much of the literature.

The Cabling Handbook deals specifically with cabling for computer and telephone networks. It is intended as a guide for professionals, but is a valuable resource for anyone well versed in comms technologies. Quite a lot of detailed attention is given to national and international standards.

The book is not confined to technical descriptions of cables and connectors. For example, a chapter, Cost Justination and Consideration, deals with business management issues-including legal implications-of network projects.

The text also includes a discussion of wireless system design and services, and considerations in respect of electrical design and data cabling systems.

It is a wide ranging, task-oriented text that also provides informed comparisons between different cable types and cabling systems. An essential reference for anyone involved at a professional level with network design and installation projects.

John Vacca: The Cabling Handbook ISBN 0-13-080531-9 Published by Prentice Hall, 684 pp. RRP $59.95

Building a Network

Building a Network is described as "The hands-on survival manual that no manager with network construction responsibilities should be without". It is for "... the individual who ... is charged with the responsibility of modifying an existing network, or ... installing a new [one] ... [It] does not require the individual to be the project manager or even technically qualified to perform such a function ... ".

The author observes that in organisations with fewer than a hundred employees there may be someone who can install a LAN, but who goes glassy-eyed when asked about standards, topologies, and topographies; in organisations with 1500 plus employees, the "person charged with the installation task ... probably knows less than the most recently hired analyst... [and will be snowed] into accepting technically absurd positions".

Non-technical managers are often the decision makers, not the engineers. For the manager who has the carriage of an upgrade or installation, this is a practical manual that deals with documenting specifications, design, procurement and other aspects of a corporate LAN installation. It was published in 1996 (is still in print) and deals with corporate LANs. However, don't be put off by age, or confinement to LAN installations. What the author has to say is relevant to any networking project; the fundamentals of managing the logistics of a network upgrade, or a new installation, are the same now as they were then.

Peter Rhodes: Building a Network ISBN 0-07-052134-4 Published by McGraw-Hill, hard cover, 222 pp., RRP $94.95

Network Analysis and Design

Practical Computer Network Analysis & Design, is a thorough and practical coverage of network analysis and design. In his preface the author writes, " ... we are becoming increasingly dependent on networks to accomplish our day-to-day tasks. Yet, as important as they are, network designs are often left to chance, with choices based on a popular vendor or a familiar technology... but today, with large, complex networks ... design must be well-thought-out, robust, and reproducible".

What starts out as a satisfactory design may soon present serious problems when there is a need to increase capacity or install high performance switches and routers. Poor design can make performance improvement economically prohibitive.

This is a well organised text that first addresses analysis issues, and then design. It uses a conceptual case approach, and I was pleased to see a small business application as one of the examples.

Client/Server Guide

Robert Orfali, Dan Harkey and Jeri Edwards have collaborated in the writing of several books, each of which is a masterpiece. The Essential Client/Server Survival Guide is a delightful read, and at the same time a valuable resource. If you want to understand client/server technology, this is probably the best single book. Highly recommended. The kind of book you can read on the train.

Reprinted from the June 2000 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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