Networking Basics
Protocols
Protocol is a fancy word which simply means rule. There are four different network protocols that I know of that are in common use. These protocols and some of the common applications that run on them are:
- NetBEUI - which is windows based and supports
- NFS - Network File System
- SMB - Server Message Block
- SNMP - Simple Network Management Protocol
- Netware - which is a network operating system itself
- SNA - IBM's System Network Architecture which supports
- VTAM on the mainframe and
- APPC on PCs
- TCP/IP - which is the communications protocol used by the internet as well as by many smaller networks. TCP/IP supports
- HTTP - Hypertext transfer protocol used for web pages where the address is prefixed by http:// or https:// (for secure servers).
- FTP - File transfer protocol used for file transfers where the address is prefixed by ftp://.
- SMTP - Simple mail transfer protocol used to send emails where the address is prefixed by mailto:.
- Telnet - used to connect to a command prompt on a remote computer where the address is prefixed by telnet:.
If you are setting up a home network then you have a choice of up to three of these. If you have Netware installed then you can set up a Netware network. If all of the computers that you are networking are running a version of Windows then you can create a very quick and simple network using NetBEUI. Regardless of the operating systems that you are running you can set up a network using TCP/IP. Of these the TCP/IP configuration is the most complicated however the most widely used. To install SNA on a PC requires additional software purchases.
References
Ask Felgall - Retrieved on 20 Jan 2008
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