Networking concepts and terms

Networking 2
Concepts
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And Terms
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Terms you’ll need to understand:
Local Area Network (LAN)
Wide Area network (WAN)
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
Peer-to-peer network
Client/server network

Techniques you’ll need to master:
Understanding the features, advantages, and disadvan-
tages of peer-to-peer and client/server networks
Choosing a network technology that meets your needs
Knowing when to implement what kind of network

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To have a general understand of networking, you must have a firm grasp of
what a network is, as well as the terms used when describing this type of
technology. In this chapter, we introduce you to some networking basics,
including network components, network design, the types of networks, how
communication takes place over a network, and how to set up network
resources for users to share. Along the way, we point out some important
items that you’ll need to know when you take the Microsoft certification
exam. In addition, we provide additional resources for further illumination
on the topics that we cover throughout this chapter.

Basic Terminology
Here are some basic networking terms and their definitions:
® Account Information about a user, which can include the user’s
account name, the user’s password, and the access permissions as-
signed to the user for network resources.
® Application server A specialized server—located on the network—
that provides access to client/server applications and to the data that
belongs to that application.
® Centralized administration A method for controlling network
resource access and managing network setup and configuration data
from a single point of access.
® Central Processing Unit (CPU) The collection of circuitry—usually a
single chip on most PCs—that supplies the “intelligence” for most
computers.
® Client A networked computer that requests resources or services
from another computer, usually a server of some kind.
® Client/server A computing model in which certain computers, called
clients, request services and other computers, called servers, respond
to these client requests. Microsoft generally refers to this type of
network as a server-based network.
® Dedicated server A network computer that acts only as a server, and
is not intended for regular use as a client machine.
® Device sharing The capability to permit users to share access to
devices of all kinds, including servers and peripherals such as printers
or plotters. This is the principal reason for having a network.

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Networking Concepts And Terms
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® Directory server A specialized server that responds to client requests
for specific resources and services. In Windows NT parlance, this
kind of server is commonly called a “domain controller.”
® Disk space The amount of space available on a disk drive, generally
measured in megabytes (MB).
® Domain controller On a Windows NT Server-based network, a
directory server that provides access controls over users, accounts,
groups, computers, and other network resources.
® Email A networked application that permits users to send electronic
messages to individual or multiple users, or to named groups of users.
® Ethernet A networking technology developed in the early 1970s that
is governed by the IEEE specifications. It is one of the most popular
types of networking technology in use today.
® File and print server The most common type of network server. It
provides networked file storage and retrieval services, and handles
print jobs for clients.
® Group A named collection of user accounts treated as a single entity,
usually created for a specific purpose. (For example, the Production
group might be the only named entity permitted to use a design
application. By adding or removing users from the Production group,
the network administrator controls who may access the application.)
® Hybrid network A network that combines the principles of client/
server and peer-to-peer networking.
® IEEE 802 specification A series of standards created by the Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers that standardized network
communications.
® Internetwork Literally a network of networks. This term describes a
logical network that consists of two or more physical networks.
Unlike a WAN, an internetwork may reside in a single location, but
because it includes too many computers or spans too much distance, it
cannot fit within the scope of a single LAN.
® Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) The 16-bit PC adapter
interface that was originally developed for use with the IBM PC/AT,
but now it is included in most PCs available on the market today.

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® Local Area Network (LAN) A collection of computers and other
connected devices that fit within the scope of a single physical
network. LANs provide the building blocks for internetworks and
WANs.
® Locally attached device A device that is attached directly to a single
computer, rather than a device that’s available only over the network
(called network-attached or server-attached, depending on whether it
has a built-in network interface or whether it must be attached
directly to a server).
® Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) A network that makes use of
WAN technologies to interconnect LANs within a specific geo-
graphical region, such as a city.
® Network administrator The person responsible for the installation,
configuration, and maintenance of a network.
® Network Interface Card (NIC) A PC adapter board that permits a
computer to be attached to some sort of network medium. It trans-
lates digital information into electrical signals for outgoing network
communications, and translates incoming signals into their digital
equivalent for delivery to the machine.
® Network medium The cable, whether metallic or fiber optic, that
links computers together on a network. This term is also used to
describe frequencies used in wireless network communications.
® Network model/type The type of networking capabilities available
on a network, such as peer-to-peer, server-based, or a combination of
the two.
® Network operating system (NOS) The specialized software that
allows a computer to take part in networked communications and to
employ a broad range of networking services. Windows NT is a
network operating system available in Workstation and Server
versions; Windows 95 and Windows for Workgroups also include
built-in network client and peer-to-peer capabilities.
® Network protocol The set of rules used for communicating across a
network. A common protocol is required for any two networked
devices to be able to communicate successfully.
® Network resources Devices, information, and services that are
available across a network.

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® Operating system (OS) The basic program running on any computer
that controls the underlying system and hardware. It is required for
any computer to work.
® Password A privately selected string of letters, numbers, and other
characters (which should be hard to guess) used to identify a particu-
lar user and to control access to protected resources.
® Personal Computer Interface (PCI) A 32-bit PC bus that offers
higher performance and more sophisticated capabilities than the
16-bit ISA bus.
® Peer-to-peer network A type of network in which all connected
computers can be a client and/or a server to other computers on the
network.
® Peripheral device In networking context, a device, such as a printer
or a modem, that can be shared across a network.
® Random Access Memory (RAM) The memory cards or chips
installed in a PC that provide working space for the CPU to use when
running applications, providing network services, and so on. As far as
network servers go, the more RAM you have, the better.
® Request-response How the client/server relationship works. A
request from a client leads to some kind of response from a server
(usually, the service or data requested, but sometimes an error message
or a denial of service based on access permissions).
® Security The set of access controls and permissions that are used to
determine if a server can grant a request for a service or resource from
a client.
® Server The computer that responds to requests for services or
resources from network clients.
® Server-based network A type or model of network in which a
networked server provides services and resources to client computers
and manages and controls access to those services and resources.
® Sharing The way resources are made available to the network. The
main reason for establishing a network is to share resources.
® Specialized server A type of special-function server. It can be an
application server, a communications server, a directory server or
domain controller, a fax server, a mail server, or a Web server, among
other roles.

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® Standalone Describes a computer, device, or application that’s not
attached to a network.
® User The person who uses a computer, whether standalone or
networked.
® Wide Area Network (WAN) A collection of interconnected net-
works in which a third-party communications carrier is used to
transmit communications between networks. WAN links can be
expensive because they are charged on the basis of bandwidth, so few
WAN links support the same bandwidth as that available on most
LANs.
® Workgroup model How Microsoft refers a peer-to-peer network
that includes one or more Windows NT-based computers.
With these terms in mind, let’s move on to discuss some networking fun-
damentals.

What Is A Network?
Put simply, a network is a connection between at least two computers so
that they can share resources. Although most networks are more complex
than this two-computer scenario, all networks are based on the concept
of sharing. There’s actually a great deal of technology involved when one
computer connects to and communicates with another. In addition, there
are many types of physical connections and related software to consider. In
the following sections, we discuss some fundamental concepts behind all
networks, and explain what kinds of network models are appropriate for
various business environments.

LAN, WAN, And MAN
There are three types of networks: Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide
Area Networks (WANs), and Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs). A LAN
is a collection of networked computers that reside within a small physical
region, such as an office building. A WAN can connect networks across
the globe; a third-party communications carrier is generally used to transmit
communications between networks. MANs use WAN technologies to inter-
connect LANs within a specific geographical region, such as a city.
In addition to these distinctions, a LAN, WAN, or MAN can be peer-to-
peer networks, client/server networks, or hybrid networks (networks that

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make use of both client/server and peer-to-peer technologies). The follow-
ing sections discuss these topics in detail.

Peer-To-Peer Networks
Computers on a peer-to-peer network can act as both a client and a server.
Because all computers on this type of network are peers, peer-to-peer net-
works have no centralized control over shared resources. Any individual
machine can share its resources with any computer on the same network,
however and whenever it chooses to do so. The peer relationship also means
that no one computer has higher access priority, nor heightened responsi-
bility to provide shared resources.
Every user on a peer-to-peer network is also a network administrator. That
is, each network user controls access to the resources that reside on his or
her machine. It is possible to give all others unlimited access to local
resources, or to grant only restricted (or no) access to others. Likewise, each
user decides whether other users can access resources simply by requesting
them, or whether the resources are password-protected.
Due to the flexibility and individual discretion regarding network resources
on a peer-to-peer network, institutionalized chaos is the norm for peer-to-
peer networks. For these reasons, security should be a major concern. You
can set up a peer-to-peer network to where resources are collected into
workgroups, but without network-wide security. In a workgroup setting,
users who know the right passwords can access resources; those who do
not, can’t.
This setup may be workable on small networks, but it also requires that
users know—and remember—a different password for every shared resource
on a network. In a peer-to-peer environment, as the number of users and
resources grows, the network can become unworkable. This is not because
the network can’t function properly, but because users can’t cope with the
complexity involved.
In addition, most peer-to-peer networks consist of collections of typical
end-user PCs that are linked together by a common network medium. These
types of machines are not designed to act as network servers; therefore the
network can easily bog down as more users try to access resources on any
particular machine. Additionally, a user whose machine is being accessed
across the network has to put up with reduced performance while that
machine services network information requests. For example, if a user’s
machine has a network-accessible printer attached to it, that machine will

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slow down every time other users send a job to that printer. Although this
doesn’t affect the other users, it may bother the user working at the slowed
machine.
It is also difficult to organize data on a peer-to-peer network. When every
network computer can be a server, it is difficult for users to keep track of
what information is on which machine. If each of 10 users is responsible
for a collection of documents, any one of them might have to search through
files on all 10 machines to find a particular file. As networks grow, the
decentralized nature of this type of network makes locating resources in-
creasingly difficult, as the number of peers to be checked goes up. Also,
decentralization makes backing up data tricky—instead of backing up a
centralized data repository, you must back up each network computer to
protect shared data.
At first glance, it may seem that all of these issues and added complexity
make peer-to-peer networks unworthy of consideration. Keep in mind,
however, that peer-to-peer networks offer some powerful inducements,
particularly for smaller organizations and networks. Peer-to-peer networks
are the easiest and cheapest kind of network to install. Most peer-to-peer
networks require only an operating system, such as Windows 95 or Win-
dows for Workgroups, on the machines, along with NICs and a common
network medium. Once the computers are connected, users can immedi-
ately begin sharing information and resources.

EXAM Here are some benefits of peer-to-peer networks:
M
EX
MEXA

® They are easy to install and configure.
AME

XA
MEXA ® Individual machines do not depend on a dedicated server.

® Users are able to control their own shared resources.

® This type of network is inexpensive to purchase and operate.

® You don’t need any equipment or software other than an
operating system.
® It is not necessary to have an employee act as a dedicated
administrator to run the network.
® This type of network is well suited for networks with 10 or
fewer users.
As with anything, peer-to-peer networks have their drawbacks as
well:
® You can only apply network security to one resource at a
time.

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® Users might have to remember as many passwords as there
are shared resources.
® You must perform individual backups on each machine to
protect all shared data.
® When someone accesses shared resources, the machine
where the resource resides suffers a performance hit.
® There is no centralized organizational scheme to locate or
control access to data.

Client/Server Networks
Although the term “client/server” commonly describes network servers,
Microsoft prefers the term “server-based” to describe them. In simple terms,
a server is a machine whose only function is to respond to client requests.
Servers are seldom operated directly by someone—and then usually only to
install, configure, or manage its services. In general, a server is a combina-
tion of specialized software and hardware that provides services on a net-
work to other computers (workstations) or to other processes.

EXAM Server-based networks rely on special-purpose computers called
M servers that provide centralized repositories for network re-
EX
MEXA

AME

XA sources, and incorporate centralized security and access controls.
MEXA In comparison, peer-to-peer networks have no centralized
security or maintenance functions.
There are a number of reasons to implement a server-based network,
including centralized control over network resources through the use of
network security and control through the server’s configuration and setup.
From a hardware standpoint, server computers typically have faster CPUs,
more memory, larger disk drives, and extra peripherals—such as tape drives
and CD-ROM jukeboxes—in comparison with client machines. Servers
are also built to handle multiple requests for shared resources quickly and
efficiently. Servers are usually dedicated to servicing network client requests.
In addition, physical security—access to the machine itself—is a key com-
ponent of network security. Therefore, it’s important for servers to be
located in special, controlled-access rooms that are separate from general-
access office areas.
Server-based networks also provide centralized verification of user accounts
and passwords. Windows NT, for example, uses the domain model concept
for management of users, groups, and machines, and for control of network

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resource access. Before users can access network resources, they must pro-
vide their name and password to a domain controller, a server that checks
account names and passwords against a database of such information. The
domain controller will only allow valid account and password combina-
tions to access certain resources. Also, only network administrators can
modify the security information in the domain controller’s database. This
approach provides centralized security, and it permits you to manage re-
sources with varying degrees of control, depending on their importance,
sensitivity, or location.
Unlike the peer-to-peer model, server-based networks typically require only
a single login to the network itself, which reduces the number of passwords
users must remember. In addition, network resources like files and printers
are easier to find because they are generally located on specific servers, not
on individual user machines across the network. The concentration of net-
work resources on a smaller number of servers also makes data resources
easier to back up and maintain.
Unlike peer-to-peer networks, server-based networks are much more
scaleable. As the network population grows, peer-to-peer networks bog
down seriously and can become sluggish and unmanageable. In compari-
son, server-based networks can handle anywhere from a handful of users
and resources to tens of thousands of users and geographically dispersed
resources. In other words, a server-based network can grow as a company
grows, and not hold it back.
Like the peer-to-peer network model, server-based networks also have dis-
advantages. Foremost on the list is the additional costs involved in operating
such a network. Server-based networks need one or more high-powered—
and therefore more expensive—computers to run special-purpose (also ex-
pensive) server software. In addition, server-based networks require someone
knowledgeable to run them. Training employees to acquire the necessary skills
to manage a server-based network, or hiring an already-trained network ad-
ministrator, also adds to the costs of operating such networks.
There are other negative aspects of server-based networks. Centralization
of resources and control does simplify access, control, and aggregation of
resources, but it also introduces a single point of failure on networks. If the
server is not operational, a server-based network is not a network at all. On
networks with more than one server, loss of any single server means loss of
all resources associated with that server. Also, if the server that goes down
is the only source of access control information for a certain set of users,
those users can’t access the network, either.

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EXAM Here are some benefits of server-based networks:
M
EX
MEXA

AME ® They provide centralized user accounts, security, and access
XA
MEXA controls, which simplifies network administration.
® More powerful equipment means more efficient access to
network resources as well.
® Users only have to remember a single password for network
login, which allows them to access all resources that they
have permission to access.

Now let’s take a look at some server-based networking cons:
® A server failure can render a network unusable; at best, it
results in loss of network resources.
® Such networks require an expert staff to manage the com-
plex, special-purpose server software, which adds to the
overall cost.
® Costs also increase due to the requirements of dedicated
hardware and specialized software.

Choosing A Network
Choosing a network depends on the circumstances. You should select a
peer-to-peer network only when all of the following conditions apply:
® There are no more than 10 network users (preferably, no more than 5).
® All machines on the network are in close enough proximity to fit
within a single LAN.
® Budget considerations require an inexpensive solution.
® You don’t need any specialized servers (for example, fax servers,
communication servers, or application servers).
On the other hand, a server-based network makes sense when one or more
of the following conditions are true:
® More than 10 users must share network access.
® You require centralized control, security, resource management, or
backup.

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® You require access to specialized servers, or there is a heavy demand
for network resources.
® You are using an internetwork or you require WAN access.
When a network has more than 5 but less than 10 users, budget limitations
often incline organizations toward peer-to-peer. But if the organization is
expecting to grow, or specialized network servers sound appealing, it’s best
to begin with a server-based network.

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Exam Prep Questions
Question 1

Which of the following are true about a server-based network?
[Check all correct answers]
u a. There is centralized control of network resources.
u b. All networked computers act as both clients and servers.
u c. You can implement centralized security to protect
network resources.
u d. It can grow as an organization grows.

Server-based networks do provide centralized control and security for net-
work resources, and therefore, answers a and c are correct. Answer b is
incorrect because this describes behavior of a peer-to-peer network.
Answer d is also correct; server-based networks are quite scaleable.

Question 2

Which of the following are advantages of a large-scale server-
based network? [Check all correct answers]
u a. Ease of administration
u b. Centralized backups of network data
u c. Inexpensive to implement
u d. Increased performance

Answers a, b, and d are all correct. Server-based networks are easier to
administer than peer-to-peer implementations, centralized backups are
allowed, and there is increased network performance due to the power of
the hardware involved. Answer c is incorrect; server-based networks can be
very expensive, especially in a large-scale setting.

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Question 3

Which of the following is a drawback of peer-to-peer networking?
r a. A server failure can render a network unusable; at best,
it results in loss of network resources.
r b. Costs increase due to the requirements of dedicated
hardware and specialized software.
r c. When you access shared resources, the machine where
the resource resides suffers a performance hit.
r d. An expert staff is needed to manage the complex, special-
purpose server software, which adds to the overall cost.

Answer a is incorrect; if a machine in a peer-to-peer environment goes
down, only the resources on that particular machine are unavailable and the
rest of the network continues to work. Answer b is incorrect; this is a draw-
back of a server-based network. Answer c is the correct choice; machines
that house network resources do take a performance hit when that resource
is accessed. Answer d is incorrect; peer-to-peer networks are easy to imple-
ment and no specialized staff is needed for full-time support.

Question 4

Which of the following describes a Local Area Network?
r a. Connects networks across the globe
r b. A collection of networked computers that reside within a
small physical region
r c. Requires the use of a third-party communications carrier
to handle connections
r d. Uses WAN technologies to interconnect networks within
a specific geographical region

Answer a is incorrect; LANs are generally limited to a single building.
Answer b is correct; LANs are limited to a small physical region. Answers
c and d are incorrect; they discuss requirements of WANs and MANs,
respectively.

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Question 5

Which of the following terms describes the specialized software
that gives a computer the ability to take part in networked com-
munications?
r a. Ethernet
r b. NOS
r c. CPU
r d. ISA

Answer a is incorrect; Ethernet is a network architecture, not an applica-
tion. Answer b is correct; the NOS is what enables a computer to commu-
nicate across a network. Answer c is incorrect; the CPU is hardware, not
software. Answer d is incorrect; ISA is the 16-bit PC adapter interface card
that is now included in most PCs today.

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Need To Know More?
Chellis, James, Charles Perkins, and Matthew Strebe: MCSE:
Networking Essentials Study Guide. Sybex Network Press, San
Francisco, CA, 1994. ISBN 0-7821-1971-9. Chapter 1, “An
Introduction to Networks,” discusses network types at length.
Microsoft Press: Networking Essentials. Redmond, Washing-
ton, 1996. ISBN 1-55615-806-8. Unit 1, Lesson 2, “The Two
Major Types of Networks,” discusses all of the topics in this
chapter in great detail.
Search the TechNet CD (or its online version through
www.microsoft.com) using the keywords “client/server,” “peer-
to-peer,” and “network design.”

Networking concepts and terms

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