Picture yourself networking your home or small office: step-by-step instruction for designing, installing, and managing a wired or wireless computer network

329 Pages·2008·13.33 MB·English

by  Dennis C. Brewer

Picture Yourself Networking © 2009 Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning.
Your Home or Small Office
Dennis C. Brewer ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by
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ISBN-13: 978-1-59863-557-7
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11 10 09
This book is dedicated to my loving wife Penny,
whose unwavering support of my writing career and
encouragement to stay the course is very much appreciated.
I thank her for her sacrifice of the time used for this book—
time we would have otherwise spent together picnicking at the
shores of Lake Superior or camping in Upper Michigan’s great outdoors.
Acknowledgments
F
irst, I would like to thank
Another supporting cast deserves gratitude for
my
their assistance, pieces and parts, tools, and coun-
agent, Carole McClendon at Waterside
sel. That list includes Charlie Kariainen, the store
Productions, and my acquisitions editor for
manager at the Alltel branch in Houghton, Michigan;
this project, Megan Belanger. I would also like to
Bill Kobe and Ken Olkkonen at my local electrical-
thank Kate Shoup for an excellent job of finding
parts supplier, Bill’s Electrical, in Calumet, Michigan;
and organizing the essence of a readable book
and Tim Shriver at automatedliving.com for his
from my sometimes rambling first drafts. My full
enthusiastic support of this project.
appreciation goes, too, to Neil Slagle for working
to improve this text by providing technical insight
and asking all the right questions. I would also My appreciation also goes out to all of the compa-
like to recognize my friend Robert Fleischmann nieswho make these wonderful computer and net-
for his contributions. Many thanks, too, to Shawn work hardware and software components so cool
Morningstar for her great work on graphics and to use and interesting to learn and write about.
layout. Finally, thanks to the entire staff at Course Without these terrific products on the market-
Technology that played a role in development of place, there just wouldn’t be much to say!
this book, no matter how small. You are all so
positive and easy to work with!
iv
About the Author
D
ennis C. Brewer
A certified network engineer with almost 25 years
—who became
of experience working with computers and networks,
interested in electronics at an early age,
Brewer’s expertise in the field ranges from hands-
having been influenced by his older
onbuilding and repairing of computers all the way
brothers, Ed, Alfred, and Paul, and encouraged by
up to setting policy and charting the course for
his sister Margaret—earned his Bachelor of Science
technology objectives. Now an IT consultant,
in Business Administration from Michigan
Brewer juggles a roster of clients that include edu-
Technological University in Houghton, Michigan.
cational institutions, various business enterprises,
He received further training in the military, first
and a Washington D.C.–based consulting firm. In
as a member of the U.S. Navy Reserve (which he
addition, he has authored several technology arti-
joined in high school, and in which he ultimately
cles, and has written four other books including
attained the rank of Chief Interior Communication
Wiring Your Digital Home for Dummiesand Security
Electrician), then from the Army R.O.T.C. program
Controls for Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 IT
during college, and finally from the Michigan
Compliance.
Army National Guard, which he entered as a 2nd
Lieutenant Combat Engineer after graduating from
the Army Engineer Officer Basic Course at Ft. Brewer and his wife Penny, who live in Laurium—a
Belvoir, Virginia. little town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, close to
Lake Superior—enjoy camping in nearby Michigan
State Parks and spending time with their three
resident cats, Resa, Biddy, and KC.
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Table of Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
Chapter 1 Assembling Your Network
Installation Tool Cache. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Basic Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Power Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Task Lighting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Specialized Tool Kits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Telephone-Wiring Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Network-Wiring Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
TV Cable Wiring Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Electrical Repair Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Testing, Troubleshooting, and Repair Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Helpful Holding Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Personal Safety Equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Chapter 2 Network Design Fundamentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Understanding Networking Roles and Responsibilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Network Designer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Installer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
End User. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Network Administrator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Troubleshooter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Defining Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Quality by Design, Not by Default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Functionality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Reach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
vii
Speed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Extensibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Ease of Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Reliability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Ease of Administration and Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Availability of Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Orderliness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Load Balance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Identifying Necessary Networking Components
and Determining the Network Infrastructure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Network Installation Milestones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Chapter 3 Selecting Your Host Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Server-Selection Criteria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Software Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Operating System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
CPU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Expansion/Upgrade Criteria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Drive Types, Space, and Speeds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Physical Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Brand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Other Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Expected/Required Service Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Reliability Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Warranty and Extended Warranty Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Service and Support Contracts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Price. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Chapter 4 Selecting Peripheral Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Common Network Peripherals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Categorizing Peripheral Equipment by End-User Community. . . . . . . . . . . 49
Equipment Needed by Individuals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Functional Equipment for Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
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Picture Yourself Networking Your Home or Small Office Table of Contents
Equipment That Serves Everyone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Mapping End Users’ Needs, Equipment, and Locations. . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
How Equipment Is Shared . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Network Operating System (NOS) Dependent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
NOS Independent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Workstation Dependent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Connection Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Ethernet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Input/Output (I/O) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Adding Audio and Video Features to Your Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Chapter 5 Automating Your Home Network . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Home Network Functionality Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Setting Up a Home Automation System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Installing HAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Setting Up HAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Tutorial: Setting Up Automated Controls for a Porch Light. . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Top Ten Home Network Software Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Determining Home Network System Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Assessing Your Needs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Calculating Hardware Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Chapter 6 Network Operating Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Exploring NOS Functionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Using Microsoft Vista as a Basic NOS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Choosing a Small-Business NOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Novell (http://www.novell.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Red Hat (http://www.redhat.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Sun (http://www.sun.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
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