NETWORKING WORLD

LAN, WAN and Home Networking

2008-05-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

LAN, WAN and Home Networking
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LAN, WAN and Home Networking
Residences typically employ one LAN and connect to the Internet WAN via an Internet Service Provider (ISP) using a broadband modem. The ISP provides a WAN IP address to the modem, and all of the computers on the home network use LAN (so-called private) IP addresses. All computers on the home LAN can communicate directly with each other but must go through a central gateway, typically a broadband router, to reach the ISP.
Other Types of Area Networks
While LAN and WAN are by far the most popular network types mentioned, you may also commonly see references to these others:
Wireless Local Area Network - a LAN based on WiFi wireless network technology
Metropolitan Area Network - a network spanning a physical area larger than a LAN but smaller than a WAN, such as a city. A MAN is typically owned an operated by a single entity such as a government body or large corporation.
Campus Area Network - a network spanning multiple LANs but smaller than a MAN, such as on a university or local business campus.
Storage Area Network - connects servers to data storage devices through a technology like Fibre Channel.
System Area Network - links high-performance computers with high-speed connections in a cluster configuration. Also known as Cluster Area Network.

Business Networking

2008-05-20T07:31:00.000-07:00

Business network can be defined as a group of people that have some kind of commercial relationship. For example the relationships between boss-employee, buyer-supplier, and colleague-colleague.

According to experts, business networking functions best when individuals offer to help others to find connections, rather than "cold-calling" on prospects themselves. Business networking can take place outside of traditional business environments. For example, public places such as airports, restaurants, and movie line-ups provide opportunities to make new business contacts if an individual has good social skills.Contents [hide]
1 Purpose
2 Use of Social Networking Services
3 References
4 See also

Purpose

Once a company has assessed its core capabilities it can either flush its assets away or, can find itself in a situation where it cannot compete on attributes, as it doesn't have the necessary resources. Because of this, networks are formed to utilize the advantageous attributes, and the importance here is dependent upon a mutually beneficial relationship that significantly adds to the value of a firm's market offering. With this, there comes a critical responsibility to thoroughly analyze the respective competitors, as there are both significant opportunities and risks associated with network partnerships.

Another purpose for a business network is to expand ones knowledge base without extending ones hours for learning and accomplishing new tasks. By utilizing the experiences and knowledge of others within your business network you are able to work more efficiently in the areas of your own expertise. For example, having people with computer related skills, phone skills, psychology background, health background, financial background, legal background, and business can help bring information from each area to the table that each person can share and use to the benefit of their own business.

Sharing information and being involved in a group can help your business reach levels you couldn't alone.

There are many online networking services that can benefit most businesses, one popular site is Connect Buzz. Yet, there have been an increase in such networking sites that was kicked off by the very popular Linkedin brand and now very clever business networking sites have come into play that not just take into consideration online business networking, which as noted by critics of business networking sites, does not work very well, and combined it with a complicated algorithm that places members of a business network into offline (in real life) networking meetings. One of the pioneers in such a hybrid business networking model is Business Networking Me.

Use of Social Networking Services

As business is increasingly carried on across the globe, there has become a strong need for business networking to take place on a more virtual level. There are a myriad of social networking tools which have been created to fulfill these needs. Together with software which provides access to on-line meetings and instant messaging, people are able to both access and increase their networks of business professionals without traveling.

Social networking is a good way to find people to add to your own business network. People that can benefit from your knowledge and provide you with theirs.

Leverage of social media in corporations is an undeniable evolution in our corporate world. No one can ignore the fact that better connected people and better networked companies are more successful. Organizations with deeper alliances and partnerships lead over the ones that work on their own. The goal is to help teams, partners and alliances to get better connected to relevant parties.

Fox Business Network

2008-05-20T07:28:00.000-07:00

Fox Business Network is a United States-based cable and satellite news channel that commenced broadcasting on October 15, 2007 at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Saving Time. It is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. The network is available to more than 30 million people.News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch confirmed the launch at his keynote address at the 2007 McGraw-Hill Media Summit on February 8, 2007. Day-to-day operations are run by Kevin Magee, executive vice president of Fox News; Neil Cavuto manages content and business news coverage.Murdoch had publicly stated that if the purchase of the Wall Street Journal went through and if it were legally possible, he would have rechristened the channel with a name that has "Journal" in it.[3] However, on July 11, 2007, the parent company, News Corp, announced that the new channel would be called Fox Business Network (FBN).[4] This name choice is because it better fits with the official business name of the Fox television network, Fox Broadcasting Company or FBC, and Fox News Channel had recently been branded FNC, as well as to avoid bad jokes stemming from an acronym such as BJ for Business Journal.[5]

The network is placed on channel 43 in the New York City market, an important market for financial news. It is paired with Fox News on the dial, which moved to channel 44. CNBC is on channel 15 under the Time Warner lineup in New York. [6] According to an article in MultiChannel News magazine, NBC Universal paid up to "several million dollars" in order to ensure that CNBC and Fox Business would be separated on the dial, and in order to retain CNBC's "premium" channel slot. [7] However, it is important to note that FBN is on only Time Warner analog in New York; in other markets, digital cable is required. [8] Verizon's FiOS TV, with 515,000 subscribers nationwide, also carries the network on its premier lineup, which most customers have. Dish Network does not carry FBN.

INTERNETWORKING CHALLENGES

2008-05-20T07:09:00.000-07:00

Implementing a functional internetwork is no simple task. Many challenges must be faced, especially in the areas of connectivity, reliability, network management, and flexibility. Each area is key in establishing an efficient and effective internetwork.
The challenge when connecting various systems is to support communication among disparate technologies. Different sites, for example, may use different types of media operating at varying speeds, or may even include different types of systems that need to communicate.
Because companies rely heavily on data communication, internetworks must provide a certain level of reliability. This is an unpredictable world, so many large internetworks include redundancy to allow for communication even when problems occur.
Furthermore, network management must provide centralized support and troubleshooting capabilities in an internetwork. Configuration, security, performance, and other issues must be adequately addressed for the internetwork to function smoothly. Security within an internetwork is essential. Many people think of network security from the perspective of protecting the private network from outside attacks. However, it is just as important to protect the network from internal attacks, especially because most security breaches come from inside. Networks must also be secured so that the internal network cannot be used as a tool to attack other external sites.
Early in the year 2000, many major web sites were the victims of distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks. These attacks were possible because a great number of private networks currently connected with the Internet were not properly secured. These private networks were used as tools for the attackers.
Because nothing in this world is stagnant, internetworks must be flexible enough to change with new demands.

Wireless Network Security

2008-04-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

It seems that more and more home users are going with wireless networks rather than the tradition wired networks with wires hanging everywhere and running wild around the house and in the crawlspace. What seems like a good idea quickly turns into a nightmare if you don’t vamp up the security of your wireless network.

Speed is of the essence. Typically, one thing matters to new users of wireless, getting connected and browsing that first website. While wireless connectivity can accomplish this, it’s best to set up your wireless connection securely before venturing out into cyberspace. Below are some tips to help secure your wireless network.

Change the default admin password. Admin passwords are easily figured out by attackers when they are left as the default. Not changing your wireless admin password opens your network to attack and can lead to many problems depending on the attacker’s agenda.

Another wireless security measure you will need to take is turning on encryption. Enabling WEP encryption on your wireless network will help you protect your privacy and all your info won’t be floating around outside your home waiting to be picked up by a passerby. It’s important to remember that all your devices on the wireless network will need to have the same encryption. So find the strongest encryption possible that will work on all devices of the wireless network.

Stop the auto-connect feature. Do not allow your devices to auto-connect. Allowing auto-connect may connect to a network that you don’t particularly want. Example, you don’t want your laptop connecting to your neighbor’s network and sending info.

It’s also a good idea that you install firewalls on all devices that connect to the wireless network. Even if the wireless router is firewalled, it’s important to also install firewalls on all computers that are connected to the wifi network. It’s important that these firewalls be set up correctly and block any intrusions that may compromise your wifi network.

Position your wireless router close to the center of your home. Although the reach of wifi networks can vary greatly, it’s important to not allow the signal to float around great distances from the main access point. It virtually impossible to stop all leakage from exiting your home. But minimizing the risk to your wifi network will help to protect it.

Another good idea for wifi network security is to not allow broadcast of the SSID. Your router may have SSID broadcasting set up by default; however you should be able to change this setting in the configuration. This feature is only useful for mobile environments, and is not needed in home wifi networks.

These are just a few tips to securing your wifi network. It’s always a good idea to check for firmware updates to your router as new exploits and vulnerabilities arise. Some routers will have an auto update feature and it’s important to use it. Using auto update will help keep your wifi network secure without the need of remembering to check for updates.

HISTORY OF NETWORKS

2008-04-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

Before the advent of computer networks that were based upon some type of telecommunications system, communication between calculation machines and early computers was performed by human users by carrying instructions between them. Many of the social behavior seen in today's Internet was demonstrably present in nineteenth-century telegraph networks, and arguably in even earlier networks using visual signals.

In September 1940 George Stibitz used a teletype machine to send instructions for a problem set from his Model K at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire to his Complex Number Calculator in New York and received results back by the same means. Linking output systems like teletypes to computers was an interest at the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) when, in 1962, J.C.R. Licklider was hired and developed a working group he called the "Intergalactic Network", a precursor to the ARPANet.

In 1964, researchers at Dartmouth developed the Dartmouth Time Sharing System for distributed users of large computer systems. The same year, at MIT, a research group supported by General Electric and Bell Labs used a computer (DEC's PDP-8) to route and manage telephone connections.

Throughout the 1960s Leonard Kleinrock, Paul Baran and Donald Davies independently conceptualized and developed network systems which used datagrams or packets that could be used in a packet switched network between computer systems.

The first widely used PSTN switch that used true computer control was the Western Electric 1ESS switch, introduced in 1965.

In 1969 the University of California at Los Angeles, SRI (in Stanford), University of California at Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah were connected as the beginning of the ARPANet network using 50 kbit/s circuits. Commercial services using X.25, an alternative architecture to the TCP/IP suite, were deployed in 1972.

Computer networks, and the technologies needed to connect and communicate through and between them, continue to drive computer hardware, software, and peripherals industries. This expansion is mirrored by growth in the numbers and types of users of networks from the researcher to the home user.

Today, computer networks are the core of modern communication. The scope of communication has increased significantly in the past decade and this boom in communications would not have been possible without the progressively advancing computer network.

DISTRIBUTED DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

2008-03-26T05:30:00.001-07:00

It is the software system that permits the management of the distributed database and makes the distribution transparent to users. A Distributed Database Management System (DDBMS) consists of a single logical database that is split into a number of fragments. Each fragment is stored on one or more computers under the control of a separate DBMS, with the computers connected by a communications network. Each site is capable of independently processing user requests that require access to local data and is also capable of processing data stored on other computers in the network. Users access the distributed database via applications. Applications are classified as those that do not require data from other sites (local Applications) and those that do require data from other sites (global applications). We require a DDBMS to have at least one global application.

DBMS

2008-03-26T05:29:00.001-07:00

Database Management Systems has quickly become one of the leading texts for database courses, known for its practical emphasis and comprehensive coverage. The third edition features new material on database application development, with a focus on Internet applications. The hands-on approach introduces students to current standards, including JDBC, XML, and 3-tier application architectures. A new, flexible organization allows instructors to teach either an applications-oriented course or an introductory systems-oriented course. The revised “part” organization with (new) Overview chapters makes it easy to select the chapters you need; in-depth chapters within each part can be optional.

This very current new edition also features pedagogical improvements (e.g., chapter objectives, review questions), and updated and extended discussions of data mining, database tuning wizards, decision support, information retrieval, Internet security, object-oriented databases, transaction processing, and XML data management. Throughout, the coverage has been revised and expanded to reflect the new SQL:1999 standard, including extensions that support multimedia data, object-relational databases, OLAP, recursive queries, spatial data, and SQL-J. The flexible organization and up-to-date discussion of advanced topics also makes the book ideal for use in a two-course sequence

Networking methods

2008-02-27T08:34:00.002-08:00

A local area network is a network that spans a relatively small space and provides services to a small number of people. Depending on the number of people that use a Local Area Network, a peer-to-peer or client-server method of networking may be used. A peer-to-peer network is where each client shares their resources with other workstations in the network. Examples of peer-to-peer networks are: Small office networks where resource use is minimal and a home network. A client-server network is where every client is connected to the server and each other. Client-server networks use servers in different capacities. These can be classified into two types: Single-service servers, where the server performs one task such as file server, print server, etc.; while other servers can not only perform in the capacity of file servers and print servers, but they also conduct calculations and use these to provide information to clients (Web/Intranet Server). Computers are linked via Ethernet Cable, can be joined either directly (one computer to another), or via a network hub that allows multiple connections.

Historically, LANs have featured much higher speeds than WANs. This is not necessarily the case when the WAN technology appears as Metro Ethernet, implemented over optical transmission systems.

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Wide area network (WAN)

A wide area network is a network where a wide variety of resources are deployed across a large domestic area or internationally. An example of this is a multinational business that uses a WAN to interconnect their offices in different countries. The largest and best example of a WAN is the Internet, which is a network comprised of many smaller networks. The Internet is considered the largest network in the world.[6]. The PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) also is an extremely large network that is converging to use Internet technologies, although not necessarily through the public Internet.

A Wide Area Network involves communication through the use of a wide range of different technologies. These technologies include Point-to-Point WANs such as Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) and High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC), Frame Relay, ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) and Sonet (Synchronous Optical Network). The difference between the WAN technologies is based on the switching capabilities they perform and the speed at which sending and receiving bits of information (data) occur.

For more information on WANs, see Frame Relay, ATM and Sonet.

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Wireless networks (WLAN, WWAN)

A wireless network is basically the same as a LAN or a WAN but there are no wires between hosts and servers. The data is transferred over sets of radio transceivers. These types of networks are beneficial when it is too costly or inconvenient to run the necessary cables. For more information, see Wireless LAN and Wireless wide area network. The media access protocols for LANs come from the IEEE.

The most common IEEE 802.11 WLANs cover, depending on antennas, ranges from hundreds of meters to low kilometers. For larger areas, either communications satellites of various types, cellular radio, or wireless local loop (IEEE 802.16) all have advantages and disadvantages. Depending on the type of mobility needed, the relevant standards may come from the IETF or the ITU.

Views of networks

2008-02-27T08:34:00.001-08:00

Users and network administrators often have different views of their networks. Often, users that share printers and some servers form a workgroup, which usually means they are in the same geographic location and are on the same LAN. A community of interest has less of a connotation of being in a local area, and should be thought of as a set of arbitrarily located users who share a set of servers, and possibly also communicate via peer-to-peer technologies.

Network administrators see networks from both physical and logical perspectives. The physical perspective involves geographic locations, physical cabling, and the network elements (e.g., routers, bridges and application layer gateways that interconnect the physical media. Logical networks, called, in the TCP/IP architecture, subnets , map onto one or more physical media. For example, a common practice in a campus of buildings is to make a set of LAN cables in each building appear to be a common subnet, using virtual LAN (VLAN) technology.

Both users and administrators will be aware, to varying extents, of the trust and scope characteristics of a network. Again using TCP/IP architectural terminology, an intranet is a community of interest under private administration usually by an enterprise, and is only accessible by authorized users (e.g. employees) (RFC 2547). Intranets do not have to be connected to the Internet, but generally have a limited connection. An extranet is an extension of an intranet that allows secure communications to users outside of the intranet (e.g. business partners, customers)RFC 3547.

Informally, the Internet is the set of users, enterprises,and content providers that are interconnected by Internet Service Providers (ISP). From an engineering standpoint, the Internet is the set of subnets, and aggregates of subnets, which share the registered IP address space and exchange information about the reachability of those IP addresses using the Border Gateway Protocol. Typically, the human-readable names of servers are translated to IP addresses, transparently to users, via the directory function of the Domain Name System (DNS).

Over the Internet, there can be business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) communications. Especially when money or sensitive information is exchanged, the communications are apt to be secured by some form of communications security mechanism. Intranets and extranets can be securely superimposed onto the Internet, without any access by general Internet users, using secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology.

When used for gaming one computer will have to be the server while the others play through it.

Computer Networking

2008-02-27T08:33:00.000-08:00

Computer networking is the engineering discipline concerned with communication between computer systems or devices. Networking, routers, routing protocols, and networking over the public Internet have their specifications defined in documents called RFCs.[1] Computer networking is sometimes considered a sub-discipline of telecommunications, computer science, information technology and/or computer engineering. Computer networks rely heavily upon the theoretical and practical application of these scientific and engineering disciplines.

A computer network is any set of computers or devices connected to each other with the ability to exchange data.[2] Examples of networks are:
local area network (LAN), which is usually a small network constrained to a small geographic area.
wide area network (WAN) that is usually a larger network that covers a large geographic area.
wireless LANs and WANs (WLAN & WWAN) is the wireless equivalent of the LAN and WAN

All networks are interconnected to allow communication with a variety of different kinds of media, which including twisted-pair copper wire cable, coaxial cable, optical fiber, and various wireless technologies.[3] The devices can be separated by a few meters (e.g. via Bluetooth) or nearly unlimited distances (e.g. via the interconnections of the Internet[4]).

Substantial

2008-01-27T06:22:00.000-08:00

Pervasive

While there is no universally agreed upon definition of what constitutes "pervasive censorship", organization Reporters without Borders (RSF) maintains an internet enemy list[2] while the OpenNet Initiative categorizes some nations as practicing extreme levels of Internet censorship. Such nations often censor political content and may retaliate against citizens who violate the censorship with measures such as imprisonment.

Cuba

Cuba is on ONI's watchlist and on RSF's internet enemy list. Cuba has the lowest Latin America ratio of computers per inhabitant and also the lowest internet access.[3] Citizens have to use government controlled "access points", where their activity is monitored through IP blocking, keyword filtering and navigation history checking. According to the government, access to internet services by the Cuban population are limited due to high costs and the American embargo, but there are reports concerning the will of the government to control access to uncensored information both from and to the outer world.[4] The Cuban government continues to imprison independent journalists for contributing reports through the Internet to web sites outside of Cuba.

Iran

Iran is in ONI's pervasive category and on RSF's internet enemy list. Iran Internet censorship is delegated to ISPs who attempt to filter contents critical of the government, pornographic websites, and political blogs.[1] Iranian bloggers have been imprisoned for their Internet activities by the Iranian government.[6] Most recently, the Iranian government has blocked access to video-upload sites such as YouTube.com.[7]

Maldives

Maldives is not categorized by ONI and RSF removed it from its internet enemy list in 2006. Maldives filters[citation needed] opposition websites and had imprisoned cyber dissidents in 2004 and 2005, all since released.

Myanmar

Main article: Internet in Myanmar

Burma (also known as Myanmar) is in ONI's pervasive category and on RSF's internet enemy list. Burma has banned the websites of political opposition groups, sites relating to human rights, and organizations promoting democracy in Burma[1]. During the 2007 anti-government protests, Burma completely shut down all internet links from its country.[10]

North Korea

North Korea is not categorized by ONI but is on RSF's internet enemy list. Only a few thousand citizens in North Korea, a tiny minority of the total population, have access to the Internet, which is heavily censored by the national government.[11]

People's Republic of China

Main article: Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China is in ONI's pervasive category and is on RSF's internet enemy list. China blocks or filters Internet content relating to Tibetan independence, Taiwan independence, police brutality, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, freedom of speech, democracy, pornography, some international news sources (such as the BBC), certain religious movements (such as Falun Gong), many blogging websites, and Wikipedia.[1][12] Some 52 cyber dissidents are reportedly imprisoned in China for their online postings.[13]

Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions do not censor materials from internet.

Syria

Syria is in ONI's pervasive category and is on RSF's internet enemy list. Syria has banned websites for political reasons and arrested people accessing them.[1][14]

Tunisia

Main article: Internet censorship in Tunisia

Tunisia is in ONI's pervasive category and is on RSF's internet enemy list. Tunisia has blocked thousands of websites (such as pornography, mail, search engine cached pages, online documents conversion and translation services) and peer-to-peer and FTP transfer. This filtering is performed using a transparent proxy and port blocking. Cyber dissidents including pro-democracy lawyer Mohammed Abbou have been jailed by the Tunisian government for their online activities.

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is in ONI's pervasive category and is on RSF's internet enemy list. Uzbekistan prevents access to websites regarding banned Islamic movements, independent media, NGOs, and material critical of the government's human rights violations.[1] Some Internet cafes in the capital have posted warnings that users will be fined for viewing pornographic websites or website containing banned political material.

Vietnam

Vietnam is in ONI's pervasive category and is on RSF's internet enemy list. The main networks in Vietnam prevent access to websites critical of the Vietnamese government, expatriate political parties, and international human rights organizations, among others.[1] Online police reportedly monitor Internet cafes and cyber dissidents have been imprisoned for advocating democracy

Hot wallpapers

2008-01-27T06:16:00.000-08:00

Internet censorship is control or suppression of the publishing or accessing of information on the Internet. The legal issues are similar to offline censorship.

One difference is that national borders are more permeable online: residents of a country that bans certain information can find it on websites hosted outside the country. Conversely, attempts by one government to prevent its citizens from seeing certain material can have the effect of restricting foreigners, because the government may take action against Internet sites anywhere in the world, if they host objectionable material.

Barring total control on Internet-connected computers, such as in North Korea, total censorship of information on the Internet is very difficult (or impossible) to achieve due to the underlying distributed technology of the Internet. Pseudonymity and data havens (such as Freenet) allow unconditional free speech, as the technology guarantees that material cannot be removed and the author of any information is impossible to link to a physical identity or organization.

In November, 2007, "Father of the Internet" Vint Cerf stated that he sees Government-led control of the internet failing due to private ownership.

The following sections follow the OpenNet Initiative (ONI) categorization scheme: Pervasive, Substantial, Nominal, Indirect, Watchlist