Network Client Configuration By Nanda Ganesan, Ph.D. © Nanda Ganesan, All Rights Reserved

Client Configuration This client configuration instructions assume that the network interface card has already been installed and configured on the computer Configuration above means the proper installation of the latest driver for the NIC (Network Interface Card)

Step 1: Accessing the Network and Dial-Up Windows My Network Places Right click and select properties Opens Network and Dial-up Connections Windows

Select Properties

Configuration of Components Client for Microsoft Networks File and Print Sharing Protocol –NetBEUI –TCP/IP –Only one protocol need to be configured for the client to connect to the network –It is a good practice to have only one protocol active at any point in time unless the circumstances dictate otherwise –When multiple protocols are active, the network access speed may slow down

Protocols NetBEUI is a non-routable protocol TCP/IP is the routable protocol that is standard on the Internet

Completing the Client Configuration At this point, the client configuration is completed by pressing the OK button and restarting the computer if asked to do so The client is now connected to a local network where all the computers are now function under the NetBEUI protocol

NIC Configuration - Updating In necessary the NIC configuration could also be updated by pressing the configure button shown in the pervious figure A wizard will help in the updating of the driver

Checking the Resources The resources used by the NIC can be checked –IRQ –I/O Address –Base Memory Address This step is optional as it is only for used here for informational purpose

Typical Networking Components Client –Client for Microsoft Networks Service –File and Print Sharing Protocol –TCP/IP –NetBEUI for internal local networks

Client Options Microsoft Networks Novell NetWare

Services Option File and Print services SAP agent

SAP Service Advertising Protocol (SAP) Used mainly for Novell Network It routinely advertises the available resources –Every 60 seconds by default –Not very efficient in the case of a low bandwidth WAN Broadcasting resources routinely is undesirable because of bandwidth usage It is not required in the case of TCP/IP

Protocol Options TCP/IP NW Link Etc.

Installation of TCP/IP Protocol TCP/IP protocol can be chosen and installed now

Protocol Installation Good Practice It is always a good practice to have only one protocol in operation which in most cases would be the TCP/IP protocol NetBEUI can be either checked out on the box or completely uninstalled

Configuring the TCP/IP Dynamic IP addresses –Obtain properties from the DHCP server Static IP addresses –Configure the properties manually To configure the properties either double-click on the protocol or click on the properties button

IP Properties IP address of the client Subnet mask Gateway address Primary DNS address Secondary DNS address WINS server addresses, if present

Configuring Dynamic IPs Simply click the appropriate boxes in the TCP/IP properties windows to obtain the IP properties and the DNS address automatically

Configuring the IP Addresses Manually The following values must be obtained from the Network administrator and configured –IP address of the client –Subnet mask –Gateway address –Primary DNS address –Secondary DNS address –WINS server addresses, if present

Advanced TCP/IP Settings IP DNS WINS Options

Advanced IP Settings Specify additional IP addresses and default gateway addresses Note the one NIC card can have more than one IP address assigned –Helps in the hosting of virtual web servers

Advanced DNS Settings Specify additional DNS servers Specify suffixes

Advanced WINS Server Settings Specify additional WINS server addresses Enable LMHOSTS lookup Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP

LM Host A local file used for translating abbreviations to IP addresses (Website) –Example: Cal 

Advanced Options Settings IP Sec TCP/IP Filtering –A useful filtering process for security –Allows and/or blocks access to TCP/IP ports

Displaying Network Monitoring Icon A network monitoring Icon can be displayed on the task bar to indicate the status of the network connection of the client computer

Network ID Computer name Workgroup name –For peer-to-peer networks Domain name –For client-server networks Network IDs can be changed in Network Properties

Changing the DNS Suffix name DNS suffix is the qualifier Example: ganesan.calstatela.edu –calstatela.edu is the suffix To change the suffix press the more button on the Identification Changes window

Computer Name NetBIOS name or Windows name TCP/IP host name It is a good practice to have both names as the same for a client or a server

Network Identification Network identification can be specified using the wizard as well

Restarting the Computer May or may not have to restart the computer

Summary Setup and configure NIC Configure client for networks Install and configure the protocols –Have only one protocol activated at any point in time Install the required services Give identification for the client Make the client part of either a workgroup or a domain –Manually by going through the Network ID button –Using a Wizard by going through the Properties button

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