Networking Tips

Computer networks are used to share the data and resources and for the communications. To get the optimized performance, data protection, maintenance, improved reliability and the security, every system administrator and network administrator should know the basic maintenance, troubleshooting and security techniques. Downtime is very dangerous for the critical network business applications and servers. In this article, you will learn some of the best networking tips and by using them you can get the optimized performance from your network.

1. Security

A compute network is susceptible to the internet and external security related threats, which includes viruses, spyware, adware, Trojan horses, rootkits, web worms, intruders and hackers. To keep your network secure

Firewall: Install and configure a software/hardware firewall on your gateway and all other computers in your network. Firewall is used monitor the inbound and outbound traffic and block the unauthorized access and hackers’ attacks.
Antivirus: Install antivirus software such as Norton Antivirus, Trend Micro Office Scan, Panda Antivirus or McAfee and regularly scan your computer with an antivirus program.
Anti spyware: Install and configure an up-to-dated anti spyware software in your network.
Updated Operating System: Update your Windows based operating systems with the latest service packs, hot fixes and security patches.
Browser Security: Raise the level of security of your web browsers.

2. Connectivity

Computer networking sometimes considered to be complex and seems to hard to troubleshoot. The connectivity problems occur in the computer network due to the devices conflicts, outdated LAN card’s driver, faulty hardware, faulty cable or connectors and misconfigurations. To troubleshoot the connectivity related issues, you need to perform the following tasks.

• Check the LEDs of your LAN card.
• Update the driver of your LAN card.
• Scan your computer for the viruses and spyware.
• Check the UTP/STP cable, the both end of the cable should be properly inserted i.e. one end in the LAN card and one end in the hub/switch or router.
• Check the configurations of the LAN card.
• PING the destination computer and check the status.
• If your problem is still not resolved, replace the LAN card and reconfigure it.

3. Maintenance

Computer network availability and security is very critical for the businesses. Maintenance include the domain setup, dealing with the internal and external security threats, assigning IP addresses to the computes, enabling/disabling network services like DHCP, FTP SMTP, SNMP, taking data backup, adding/removing users, troubleshooting the software/hardware, configuring the firewall and implementing the security in the overall IT infrastructure. To perform the maintenance related tasks in your compute network, you need the perfect tools.

4. Troubleshooting

You can troubleshoot the computer network related problems by using the right tools and techniques. Be default, Windows based operating systems offer the TCP/IP stack, which contains the troubleshooting and diagnostic utilities such as PING, IPCONFIG, Hostname, ARP, Telnet, NSLOOKUP, Tracert and many others. Pinging a network computer is the first troubleshooting step as it checks the connectivity with the destination computer. Additionally, you can use the other troubleshooting tools such as Ethereal, IP Sniffer, LanGuard, Packeteer and many others. These tools help to diagnose the cause of the problem and troubleshoot them.

5. Performance

To get the optimized performance from your computer network, you need to perform the following actions on every computer of your network.

• Use System Tools
• Delete Unnecessary Files
• Update Device Drivers
• Update BIOS
• Uninstall Unused Programs
• Update Operating System

6. Wireless Networking Security Tips

The following tips are very helpful in securing your wireless computer network.

• Change the Default SSID
  Change the Default Administrator’s password
• Disable SSID broadcast.
• Enable Mac Address Filtering
• Assign Static IP address to the Network devices and computers.
• Turn on and configure the firewall on every computer in your network.
• Enable IPSec, SSL, Encryption, WPA and WPE according to your security requirements.

By

George R
Network Admin
geje2005@gmail.com

Hardware & Networking

Computer Networking Useful Tips

How to Setup Workgroup and Computer Name in Windows XP

Computer name is the unique identifier of the computer in the network. If you want to setup the computer name and the workgroup in the Windows XP then follow these steps.

1. My Computer>Right Click>click on Properties>
2. Assign unique computer name.
3. Assign the same workgroup name as of the other computers.
4. You will be prompted to restart the computer.

How to secure your computer network

Securing a computer networking is the vital part of the administration of the network. There are different security threats of a computer network such as hacking, viruses, unauthorized user access, spywares, adware, Trojan horses and other malicious codes. If you are managing your computer network, it’s your responsibility to secure your network from all above mentioned aspects. Always install up to dated antivirus program such as Norton Antivirus, Trend Micro Antivirus, McAfee or Panda Antivirus. Enable firewall router or firewall software on your network to control the unauthorized access so that no intruder or hacker can access your network.
Filter the internet and monitor all the activities of the users on the internet. Block the risky websites and web applications. Install a network monitoring software and monitor the activities of users. Regularly update your software applications on the server and the client computers.

How to Share Printer and Folders in Windows XP

If you have two or more computers then a computer network will be formed and there will be necessity to share the files and printers. For sharing the folders, you need to right click the folder > Sharing and Security > Share this folder on the network > give the shared name for this folder. You can set further rights and permissions on this folder for different users.

Sharing a printer is the same as sharing a folder on the network. Click start > Control Panel > Printer and Faxes > Right click on the printer name > Properties > sharing > Share this folder (set the shared name for the printer. This same shared name of the printer will be accesses from the other computers on the network to access and share the printer such as \\computename\printername

How to troubleshoot computer network using Ping command

The PING command is the basic network troubleshooting command. Ping shows the status of the other computer whether it is on the network or not. Let’s say you have three computers in your computer network computer A (IP Address, 10.10.10.1), computer B (IP address 10.10.10.2) and computer C (IP address 10.10.10.3). You are on computer A and you want to check the connectivity of the computer B then you will need to go the Start > Run > type CMD > DOS screen will appear. Now type there ping 10.10.10.2 if you get the reply this means the computer B is connected on the network and if you get the timed out message then there is some problem in the connectivity. This can be due to different reasons like check both the ends of the network cables in the computer and in the Router/Switch, check if the green LED light is blinking in the network card of the computer also check if any software application blocking the network communication such as firewall or antivirus etc.

How to setup Xbox Network Connections

Following is the simple configuration methods of Xbox network connectivity.

1. Go to the settings of Xbox Dashboard and then network settings. You will see IP address, DNS and some other settings.
2. Click IP settings. You can select to obtain the IP address and other settings automatically from the DHCP server or router.
3. Go to the previous menu and set obtain the DNS settings from the Router or DHCP server automatically.

How to Setup Roaming Profile in Windows 2000/2003

Roaming profiles are saved on the network server. If you want your users to access their own roaming profiles then you need to open Active directory users and computers, right click on the user, then properties and then profile tab. In the profile tab type the UNC path of the user you made on the server like this \\servername\profiles\%username%. Profiles folder should be in the root of the C Drive. Make sure you have created the profiles folder on the C drive and shared it with the same name as the name of the folder. Next time when the user will log on from the client computer, his/her local profile will be saved in the folder same as the user name and this folder will be created in the profiles folder.

How to Install IIS in Windows XP

Windows XP Professional edition has the built-in IIS. Internet information server is used to host the website on your own computer and these sites can be accesses from all over the world. IIS has great administrative features but it supports only 10 concurrent connections of the clients at a time.

1. Click start>settings>control panel>Add remove program
2. Click Add remove windows components.
3. Click on Internet information services > Details.
4. In the IIS check the boxes SMTP and World Wide Web and you can also check FTP if you want to setup it.
5. In Windows components selection, make sure that you have selected IIS and you may need to insert the CD of Windows XP Professional during the installation.

How to Setup Roaming Profiles in Windows 2000

The TCP/IP component in the Windows operating systems is considered a core component so it cannot be easily uninstalled. Using the following commands with the certain switch you can however achieve the same results and by uninstalling and reinstalling the TCP/IP components.

netsh int ip reset [logfile]

Logfile is the name of the file that is used to records the actions by the netsh command.

netsh int ip reset iplog.txt is used to create the iplog.txt in the current directory.

Caution: Be very careful while using these commands because they can directly damage your system.

How to Hide a shared folder in Windows XP

If you want to hide a shared folder from the network users, right click the folder and click sharing and security and give a shared name of a folder plus $ sign e.g. ebooks$. In this way network users will not be able to see the shared folder on the network. For you to see the hidden shared folder, map the drive and type in the path including the $ sign in the folder box.

Hints Given By

George R

Network Admin