Network Configuration Setup for AppleShare IP Introduction Type of Network Configuration AppleTalk Network TCP/IP and AppleTalk Network Dial-Up to Internet ... via ISP w/DNS service via local net with DNS via ISP or local net without DNS Direct Connect to Internet ... via ISP w/DNS service via local net with DNS via ISP or local net without DNS Not Connected to Internet Setup local with DNS Setup local without DNS Glossary Links Expected time to complete: 1.0 hours Updated: 06/16/98

Glossary   APPLETALK: Set of communication protocols for Apple computers. DOMAIN NAME: An address that identifies an Internet site, consisting of at least 2 parts, as in "apple.com": The part on the left is the name of the company, institution, or organization. The part on the right identifies the highest subdomain which could be a country (.ca = Canada), or the type of organization, such as ".com" for commercial; ".gov" for government agencies; ".net" for network service providers; "mil" for military institutions; ".org" for not-for-profit organizations. DOMAIN NAME SERVICE (DNS): The way that Internet domains are located and translated into IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. A domain name is a meaningful and easy-to-remember "handle" for an an Internet address. FTP: File Transfer Protocol, one of the TCP/IP protocols which allows for file transfer across a network. GATEWAY: A device converting between differing protocols. May be combined with a router. HOST: A node on the network MX RECORD: Mail Exchange record. This entry in a DNS table is used to specify how smtp mail is handled for a particular domain name. For example, let's say your mail server's name is "wolfgang" in domain "acme.com". Your user's mail addresses will be user@wolfgang.acme.com. However, you'd prefer people to be able to send mail to them at "user@acme.com"; remember that "acme.com" is a domain name, i.e., it specifies an Internet site, but not necessarily a particular host. When setting up DNS for the acme.com domain, the dns administrator will create an MX Record for "acme.com" which will point to "wolfgang.acme.com". When a mail server has mail to deliver, (to "joe@acme.com", it requests the mx record of the "acme.com", learns that the mail is really handled by "wolfgang.acme.com", and the mail is sent there. ROUTER: A device connecting two or more pysical or logical networks. SERVER: Generically, any device offering services, such as mail service, file service, printing services, domian name services, etc. SUBNET MASK: A 32-bit number which determines which bits of the IP address are the network number, and which are the node. TCP/IP: TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the basic communication language or protocol of the Internet. It can also be used as a communications protocol in the private networks called intranets and in extranets. When you are set up with direct access to the Internet, your computer is provided with a copy of the TCP/IP program just as every other computer that you may send messages to or get information from also has a copy of TCP/IP. TCP/IP is a two-layered program. The higher layer Transmission Control Protocol manages the assembling of a message or file into smaller packets that are transmitted over the Internet and received by a TCP layer that reassembles the packets into the original message. The lower layer Internet Protocol handles the address part of each packet so that it gets to the right destination. Each gateway computer on the network checks this address to see where to forward the message. Even though some packets from the same message are routed differently than others, they'll be reassembled at the destination. TCP/IP uses the client/server model of communication in which a computer user (a client) requests and is provided a service (such as sending a Web page) by another computer (a server) in the network. TCP/IP communication is primarily point-to-point, meaning each communication is from one point (or host computer) in the network to another point or host computer. TCP/IP and the higher-level applications that use it are collectively said to be "connectionless" because each client request is considered a new request unrelated to any previous one (unlike ordinary phone conversations that require a dedicated connection for the call duration). Being connectionless frees network paths so that everyone can use them continuously.