Networking for Dummies

Set up a secure network at home or the office 

Fully revised to cover Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019, this new edition of the trusted Networking For Dummies helps both beginning network administrators and home users to set up and maintain a network. Updated coverage of broadband and wireless technologies, as well as storage and back-up procedures, ensures that you’ll learn how to build a wired or wireless network, secure and optimize it, troubleshoot problems, and much more. 

From connecting to the Internet and setting up a wireless network to solving networking problems and backing up your data—this #1 bestselling guide covers it all.

• Build a wired or wireless network
• Secure and optimize your network
• Set up a server and manage Windows user accounts
• Use the cloud—safely 

Written by a seasoned technology author—and jam-packed with tons of helpful step-by-step instructions—this is the book network administrators and everyday computer users will turn to again and again.

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 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Getting Started with Networking 5

Chapter 1: Let’s Network! 7

Defining a Network 8

Why Bother with a Network? 11

Sharing files 11

Sharing resources 11

Sharing programs 12

Sharing messages 12

Servers and Clients 13

Dedicated Servers and Peers 13

What Makes a Network Tick? 15

It’s Not a Personal Computer Anymore! 16

The Network Administrator 17

What Have They Got That You Don’t Got? 18

Chapter 2: Configuring Windows and Mac Clients 21

Configuring Windows Network Connections 22

Joining a Windows Computer to a Domain 27

Configuring Mac Network Settings 29

Joining a Mac Computer to a Domain 33

Chapter 3: Life on the Network 37

Distinguishing between Local Resources and Network Resources 38

What’s in a Name? 38

Logging on to the Network 40

Understanding Shared Folders 42

Four Good Uses for a Shared Folder 43

Store files that everybody needs 43

Store your own files 44

Make a temporary resting place for files on their way to other users 44

Back up your local hard drive 45

Oh, the Network Places You’ll Go 45

Mapping Network Drives 47

Using a Network Printer 50

Adding a network printer 51

Printing to a network printer 52

Playing with the print queue 53

Logging off the Network 55

Chapter 4: More Ways to Use Your Network 57

Sharing Your Stuff 57

Enabling File and Printer Sharing 58

Sharing a Folder 59

Using the Public Folder 61

Sharing a Printer 62

Using Microsoft Office on a Network 64

Accessing network files 64

Using workgroup templates 65

Networking an Access database 67

Working with Offline Files 68

Part 2: Designing Your Network 73

Chapter 5: Planning a Network 75

Making a Network Plan 75

Being Purposeful 76

Taking Stock 77

What you need to know 77

Programs that gather information for you 79

To Dedicate or Not to Dedicate: That Is the Question 80

File servers 81

Print servers 81

Web servers 82

Mail servers 82

Database servers 83

Application servers 83

License servers 83

Choosing a Server Operating System 83

Planning the Infrastructure 84

Drawing Diagrams 84

Chapter 6: Dealing with TCP/IP 87

Understanding Binary 88

Counting by ones 88

Doing the logic thing 89

Introducing IP Addresses 90

Networks and hosts 90

The dotted-decimal dance 91

Classifying IP Addresses 91

Class A addresses 92

Class B addresses 93

Class C addresses 93

Subnetting 94

Subnets 95

Subnet masks 96

The great subnet roundup 97

Private and public addresses 98

Understanding Network Address Translation 98

Configuring Your Network for DHCP 99

Understanding DHCP 100

DHCP servers 100

Understanding scopes 101

Feeling excluded? 102

Reservations suggested 103

How long to lease? 104

Managing a Windows Server 2019 DHCP Server 104

Configuring a Windows DHCP Client 105

Using DNS 106

Domains and domain names 106

Fully qualified domain names 108

Working with the Windows DNS Server 109

Configuring a Windows DNS Client 110

Chapter 7: Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave: Cables and Switches 111

What Is Ethernet? 112

All about Cable 114

Cable categories 116

What’s with the pairs? 117

To shield or not to shield 117

When to use plenum cable 118

Sometimes solid, sometimes stranded 118

Installation guidelines 119

The tools you need 120

Pinouts for twisted-pair cables 121

RJ-45 connectors 122

Crossover cables 124

Wall jacks and patch panels 124

Understanding Switches 126

Comparing managed and unmanaged switches 126

Daisy-chaining switches 128

Stacking switches 128

Looking at distribution switches and access switches 129

Powering Up with Power over Ethernet 130

Looking at Three Types of Network Rooms 131

Chapter 8: Setting Up a Wireless Network 133

Diving into Wireless Networking 134

A Little High School Electronics 135

Waves and frequencies 135

Wavelength and antennas 137

Spectrums and the FCC 137

Eight-Oh-Two-Dot-Eleventy Something: Understanding Wireless Standards 139

Home on the Range 140

Using Wireless Network Adapters 141

Setting Wireless Access Points 142

Infrastructure mode 142

Multifunction WAPs 143

Roaming Capabilities 144

Wireless bridging 144

Ad-hoc networks 145

Configuring a Wireless Access Point 145

Basic configuration options 146

DHCP configuration 146

Connecting to a Wireless Network 147

Paying Attention to Wireless Network Security 149

Chapter 9: Connecting to the Internet 155

Connecting to the Internet 155

Connecting with cable or DSL 156

Connecting with high-speed private lines 157

Sharing an Internet connection 158

Securing Your Connection with a Firewall 159

Using a firewall 159

Comparing residential gateways to firewall routers 161

Looking at the built-in Windows firewall 161

Providing a Backup Internet Connection 163

Part 3: Working with Servers 165

Chapter 10: Virtualizing Your Network 167

Understanding Virtualization 167

Understanding Hypervisors 169

Understanding Virtual Disks 171

Understanding Network Virtualization 173

Looking at the Benefits of Virtualization 174

Choosing Virtualization Hosts 176

Understanding Windows Server 2019 Licensing 176

Introducing Hyper-V 178

Understanding the Hyper-V hypervisor 178

Understanding virtual disks 179

Enabling Hyper-V 180

Getting Familiar with Hyper-V 181

Creating a Virtual Switch 182

Creating a Virtual Disk 184

Creating a Virtual Machine 188

Installing an Operating System 192

Chapter 11: Setting Up a Windows Server 195

Planning a Windows Server Installation 196

Checking system requirements 196

Reading the release notes 196

Considering your licensing options 196

Deciding your TCP/IP configuration 197

Choosing workgroups or domains 197

Running Setup 198

Adding Server Roles and Features 203

Creating a New Domain 208

Chapter 12: Managing Windows User Accounts 213

Understanding How Active Directory Is Organized 214

Objects 214

Domains 215

Organizational units 215

Trees 216

Forests 216

Understanding Windows User Accounts 216

Local accounts versus domain accounts 216

User account properties 217

Creating a New User 217

Setting User Properties 220

Changing the user’s contact information 220

Setting account options 221

Specifying logon hours 223

Restricting access to certain computers 223

Setting the user’s profile information 224

Resetting User Passwords 225

Disabling and Enabling User Accounts 226

Deleting a User 226

Working with Groups 227

Creating a group 227

Adding a member to a group 228

Creating a Logon Script 230

Chapter 13: Managing Network Storage 231

Understanding Disk Storage 231

Hard disk drives 231

Solid state drives to the rescue! 234

It’s a RAID! 234

Three ways to attach disks to your servers 236

Focusing on File Servers 237

Understanding permissions 237

Understanding shares 239

Managing Your File Server 240

Using the New Share Wizard 241

Sharing a folder without the wizard 245

Granting permissions 247

Part 4: Managing Your Network 251

Chapter 14: Welcome to Network Management 253

What a Network Administrator Does 254

Choosing the Part-Time Administrator 255

The Three “Ups” of Network Management 256

Managing Network Users 257

Acquiring Software Tools for Network Administrators 258

Building a Library 259

Pursuing Certification 260

Helpful Bluffs and Excuses 261

Chapter 15: Supporting Your Users 263

Establishing the Help Desk’s Charter 264

Tracking Support Tickets 265

Deciding How to Communicate with Users 267

Using Remote Assistance 268

Enabling Remote Assistance 269

Inviting someone to help you via a Remote Assistance session 270

Responding to a Remote Assistance invitation 273

Creating a Knowledge Base 275

Creating a Self-Service Help Portal 275

Using Satisfaction Surveys 276

Tracking Help Desk Performance 278

Using Help Desk Management Software 279

Chapter 16: Using Group Policy 281

Understanding Group Policy 281

Enabling Group Policy Management on Windows Server 2019 282

Creating Group Policy Objects 283

Filtering Group Policy Objects 289

Forcing Group Policy Updates 292

Chapter 17: Managing Software Deployment 293

Understanding Software Licenses 294

Using a License Server 297

Deploying Network Software 298

Deploying software manually 298

Running Setup from a network share 299

Installing silently 300

Creating an administrative installation image 301

Pushing out software with Group Policy 302

Keeping Software Up to Date 302

Chapter 18: Managing Mobile Devices 305

The Many Types of Mobile Devices 306

Considering Security for Mobile Devices 307

Managing iOS Devices 308

Understanding the iPhone 308

Understanding the iPad 309

Integrating iOS devices with Exchange 309

Configuring an iOS device for Exchange email 311

Managing Android Devices 314

Looking at the Android OS 314

Perusing Android’s core applications 315

Integrating Android with Exchange 316

Part 5: Securing Your Network 317

Chapter 19: Welcome to Cybersecurity Network 319

Do You Need Security? 320

The Three Pillars of Cybersecurity 321

Two Approaches to Security 322

Physical Security: Locking Your Doors 323

Securing User Accounts 324

Obfuscating your usernames 324

Using passwords wisely 325

Generating passwords For Dummies 326

Secure the Administrator account 328

Managing User Security 328

User accounts 329

Built-in accounts 330

User rights 331

Permissions (who gets what) 331

Group therapy 332

User profiles 333

Logon scripts 334

Securing the Human Firewall 334

Chapter 20: Hardening Your Network 337

Firewalls 337

The Many Types of Firewalls 339

Packet filtering 339

Stateful packet inspection (SPI) 341

Circuit-level gateway 342

Application gateway 342

Next-generation firewall 343

Virus Protection 343

What is a virus? 343

Antivirus programs 345

Safe computing 346

Patching Things Up 346

Chapter 21: Securing Your Email 349

Defining Spam 350

Sampling the Many Flavors of Spam 351

Using Antispam Software 352

Understanding Spam Filters 353

Looking at Three Types of Antispam Software 356

On-premises antispam 356

Antispam appliances 357

Cloud-based antispam services 358

Minimizing Spam 359

Chapter 22: Backing Up Your Data 361

3-2-1: The Golden Rule of Backups 361

How Often Should You Back Up Your Data? 363

Choosing Where to Back Up Your Data 364

Establishing Two Key Backup Objectives 365

Backing Up to Tape 366

Understanding Backup Software 367

Examining File-Based Backups 368

Full backups 369

Copy backups 370

Incremental backups 370

Differential backups 371

Backup and Virtualization 371

Verifying Tape Reliability 373

Keeping Backup Equipment Clean and Reliable 374

Setting Backup Security 375

Chapter 23: Planning for Disaster 377

Assessing Different Types of Disasters 378

Environmental disasters 379

Deliberate disasters 379

Disruption of services 380

Equipment failure 380

Other disasters 381

Analyzing the Impact of a Disaster 381

Developing a Business Continuity Plan 382

Holding a Fire Drill 383

Part 6: More Ways to Network 385

Chapter 24: Accommodating Remote Users 387

Using Outlook Web App 388

Using a Virtual Private Network 389

Looking at VPN security 390

Understanding VPN servers and clients 391

Connecting with Remote Desktop Connection 393

Enabling Remote Desktop Connection 394

Connecting remotely 395

Using keyboard shortcuts for Remote Desktop 397

Chapter 25: Life in Cloud City 399

Introducing Cloud Computing 400

Looking at the Benefits of Cloud Computing 401

Detailing the Drawbacks of Cloud Computing 402

Examining Three Basic Kinds of Cloud Services 403

Applications 404

Platforms 404

Infrastructure 405

Public Clouds versus Private Clouds 405

Introducing Some of the Major Cloud Providers 406

Amazon 406

Google 407

Microsoft 407

Getting into the Cloud 408

Chapter 26: Going Hybrid 409

What Is a Hybrid Cloud? 409

What Are the Benefits of Hybrid Cloud? 411

Elasticity 411

Flexibility 412

Agility 412

Innovation 412

Operational efficiency 412

Integrating Identity 413

Azure Active Directory 413

Single sign-on 414

Looking at Hybrid Cloud Virtualization Platforms 416

Part 7: The Part of Tens 419

Chapter 27: Ten Networking Commandments 421

I Thou Shalt Back Up Thy Data Religiously 421

II Thou Shalt Protect Thy Network from Infidels 422

III Thou Shalt Train Up Thy Users in the Ways of Safe Computing 422

IV Thou Shalt Keepeth Thy Network Drive Pure and Cleanse It of Old Files 423

V Thou Shalt Not Tinker with Thine Network Configuration unless Thou Knowest What Thou Art Doing 423

VI Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Network 423

VII Thou Shalt Not Take Down Thy Network without Proper Notification 424

VIII Thou Shalt Keep an Adequate Supply of Spare Parts 424

IX Thou Shalt Not Steal Thy Neighbor’s Program without a License 424

X Thou Shalt Write Down Thy Network Configuration upon Tablets of Stone 425

Chapter 28: Ten Big Network Mistakes 427

Skimping on Hardware 427

Turning Off or Restarting a Server Computer While Users Are Logged On 428

Deleting Important Files on the Server 429

Copying a File from the Server, Changing It, and Then Copying It Back 429

Sending Something to the Printer Again Just Because It Didn’t Print the First Time 430

Assuming That the Server Is Safely Backed Up 430

Connecting to the Internet without Considering Security Issues 430

Plugging in a Wireless Access Point without Asking 431

Thinking You Can’t Work Just Because the Network Is Down 431

Running Out of Space on a Server 432

Always Blaming the Network 433

Chapter 29: Ten Things You Should Keep in Your Closet 435

Duct Tape 435

Tools 436

Patch Cables 436

Cable Ties and Velcro 436

Twinkies 437

Replacement Parts 437

Cheap Network Switches 438

The Complete Documentation of the Network on Tablets of Stone 438

The Network Manuals and Disks 438

Ten Copies of This Book 439

Index 441

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