How to setup a peer to peer network

Task: Set up and configure a peer- peer network.

Workgroup:
A workgroup is a small group of networked computers that work together. Workgroup is selected in a network, where centralized administration is not required.

A workgroup has the following characteristics:

º Resources, administration, and authentication of users are performed on each computer in the workgroup.

º Each computer has its own local Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database, which is the local security accounts database. A user must have a user account on each computer to which she or he wants to gain access.

º There are 10 or fewer computers. These can be computers running one of the Windows 2000 server products, but each has its own SAM. Workgroups become more difficult to manage when there are more than 10 computers. In addition, the number of simultaneous connections to a computer running Windows 2000 Professional is 10.


Task1: In this example choose workgroup name as
workgroup.

Configuring Network Adapter:
Network Adapters or Network cards are hardware used to connect computer to the network. Network adapters are responsible for providing the physical connection to the network and the physical address of the computer.

Task2:
Before connecting to network, you must ensure that Network card is connected properly and driver is installed. To check this:

1.Select Start> Setting> Control Panel and double click the Network and Dial-up Connections icon. Double-click the Local Area Connection Option. In the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box, click the Configure button.

2. In the General tab of the network adapter Properties dialog box, verify that the Device Status box shows ôThis device is working properly.ö

3. Click the Advanced tab. Note the properties that are available for your driver.

4. Click the Driver tab. Note the driver date and version information. Click the Driver Details button to see the location of your network adapterÆs driver file. Click close to close the Driver File details dialog box.

5. Click the Resources tab. Note the resources that are being used by your network adapter, Verify that the Conflicting Device List box shows ôNo conflictsö.

Note: Check network cable is connected from
network card to Hub or wall socket.

Connection to a Network:

To connect to a network, you must first install and configure the appropriate protocol, then install and configure the service, and finally configure the bindings, if required. The process of configuring the computer to connect to a network is greatly simplified in Windows 2000. During installation, Windows 2000 automatically installs the following services and protocol needed to connect to a network:

º Client for Microsoft Networks
º File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks
º TCP/IP

But for other operating systems like Win 95/98/ME, you have to configure this manually.

How to connect to NETBEUI

NetBEUI stands for NetBIOS Extended User Interface. It was developed in the mid-1980s to connect workgroups that were running the OS/2 and LAN Manager operating systems.

The NetBEUI protocol offers the following advantages:

+ It is easy to install

+ There are no configuration requirements.

+ NetBEUI has self-tuning capabilities.

+ NetBEUI has fewer overheads than TCP/IP and IPX/SPX and thus offers better performance.

+ NetBEUI uses less memory than TCP/IP and IPX/SPX.

The main disadvantage of NetBEUI protocol is that it is not routable, so you cannot use it in networks that have more than one network segment. Also, NetBEUI is not as commonly accepted as the TCP/IP protocol.

Task 3:

To Install NetBEUI:

1. From the Desktop, right-click My Network Places and select Properties.

2. Right-click Local Area Connection and select Properties.

3. In the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box, click the Install button.

4. In the Select Network Component Type dialog box, highlight Protocol and click the Add button.

5. In the Select Network Protocol dialog box, select NetBEUI protocol from the list and click the OK button.

6. Make sure that Client for Microsoft Networks and
File and Printer Sharing for Network is ticked.

Task 4:

To check how many computers are connected to network:

1.From the Desktop, double-click My Network Places (Network Neighborhood in case of Win 98/NT).

2. Double-click Entire Network>Entire contents>Microsoft Windows network.

3. You can see the name of the Workgroup you selected.
In this example workgroup is workgroup. Double-click it.

4.You can see the names of all computers that are
connected to the network.

Optionally you can delete NETBEUI Protocol once network is established in place of TCP/IP.

TCP/IP Configurations:

Networks running Windows 2000 and using TCP/IP can take advantage of such network services as the Domain Name System (DNS) Server service, the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Server service, and the Active Directory directory service. Understanding how to enable TCP/IP connectivity for a client computer running Windows 2000 allows you to take advantage of these and other network services.

Task 5:

Windows 2000 automatically installs TCP/IP as the default protocol during installation (if a network adapter is detected). However, if TCP/IP was not installed during installation, you can install it manually.

To install TCP/IP, perform the following steps:

1. Right-click My Network Places, and then click Properties.

2. In the Network and Dial-up Connections window, right-click the local area connection icon and then click Properties.

3. Verify that whether Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is on the list of installed components or not.

4. If not installed, Click Install.

5. Click Protocol, and then click Add.

6. In the Select Network Protocol dialog box, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click OK.

7. Verify that the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) check box is selected, and then click OK.

8. Double click on TCP/IP Protocol.

9. Select use the following IP address.

10. Enter IP address as 200.200.200.X.

Where X is your computer number, like computer 1 will be 1.

11. Enter 255.255.255.0 as Subnet mask.

12. Leave other settings unchanged.

Repeat steps as listed in Task 4 to check network setup.

You can also configure to obtain TCP/IP address automatically, but it will not be covered in this tutorial.

Configuring TCP/IP to Obtain an IP Address Automatically:

After installing TCP/IP, the client computer obtains an IP address in one of two ways if TCP/IP has been configured to obtain an IP address automatically:

º From a DHCP server

º Through Automatic Private IP Addressing

Automatic Private IP Addressing enables the configuration of an IP address in the event that the client computer cannot receive an IP address from a DHCP server. Automatic Private IP Addressing only provides an IP address and a subnet mask, not additional configuration information such as a default gateway. This limits the connectivity to the LAN of the client computer. The client computer cannot connect to other networks or the Internet.
When a computer without an IP address starts, the following occurs:

1. The client computer attempts to locate a DHCP server and obtain IP configuration information from it.

2. If a DHCP server cannot be found, the client computer automatically configures its IP address and subnet mask using a selected address, such as 169.254.142.101, from the Microsoft-reserved, class B network, 169.254.0.0, with the subnet mask, 255.255.0.0.

A DHCP server automatically provides an IP address and other TCP/IP configuration information, such as the IP address of the DNS server, the WINS server, and default gateway.

Verifying and Testing a TCP/IP Configuration:

After configuring TCP/IP, use the ipconfig and ping commands to test the configuration of the local computer, and to ensure that the computer can communicate using TCP/IP across a network using TCP/IP.

Ipconfig:

The ipconfig command displays your TCP/IP configuration information on the computer on which it is run and determines whether the computer is TCP/IP initialised. You can then view the displayed information to verify if it is correct.

Ipconfig/all:

This command shows information about your IP configuration, including your computerÆs physical address, the DNS server you are using, and whether you are using DHCP.

Task 6:

Using the Ipconfig Command:

1. Select Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt

2.In the command prompt dialog box, type ipconfig and press enter. Note the IP address, which should be the address that you configured when the computer was installed.

3.In the Command prompt dialog box, type ipconfig/all and press enter. You will see the more information, like DNS Server address, Gateway address and Physical (MAC) address. Note down the Physical address of your Network card.

4. Type exit and press enter.

Ping:

The Ping command is used to send an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) and a diagnostic tool that you can use to test TCP/IP configurations between two computers and diagnose connection failures.

Task 7:

Using the Ping Command:

1. Select Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt

2.In the command prompt dialog box, run the ping command to determine whether you can communicate with another TCP/IP host.

The PING Command has the following syntax:

C:\Ping ip address

e.g. if ip address is 168.200.2.27, type the following command:

C:\Ping 168.200.2.27 and press enter.

Ping is useful for verifying connectivity between two hosts.

By default, the following message appears four times after a successful ping command:

Reply from IP_address
Followed by statistical information:
Ping Statistics for IP_address
Packets: Sent = #, Received = #, Lost = # (#% lost)
Approximate round trip times in milliseconds:
Minimum = #ms, Maximum = #ms, Average = #ms

Note down the Minium, Maximum and Average time used to ping all the computers in your network.