Network TCP/IP

Network TCP/IP

Network TCP/IP

What a Network Is

Computer networks now proliferate throughout the world. More and more organizations set up networks of computers within their buildings. More and more individuals are establishing communications with public networks

featuring special interest bulletin boards. Newspapers, radio, and television programs feature stories about the "information highway" and the global reach of giant networks.

Because of its subject matter, this book uses numerous networking terms, many of which may be familiar to you. The following section explains these terms and tries to answer some basic networking questions from a Solaris and--perhaps more importantly--from a TCP/IP perspective.

What TCP/IP Is

A network communications protocol is a set of formal rules that describe how software and hardware should interact within a network. For the network to function properly, the information being sent must be delivered to the intended destination in an intelligible form. Because different types of networking software and hardware need to interact to perform the network function, designers developed the concept of the communications protocol.

The Solaris operating system includes the software needed for network operations for your organization. This networking software implements the communications protocol "suite" collectively referred to as TCP/IP. TCP/IP is recognized as a standard by major international standards organizations and is used throughout the world. Because it is a set of standards, TCP/IP runs on many different types of computers, making it easy for you to set up a heterogeneous network running the Solaris operating system.

TCP/IP provides services to many different types of computers, operating systems, and networks. Types of networks range from local area networks, such as Ethernet, FDDI, and Token Ring, to wide area networks, such as X.25 and ATM.

You can use TCP/IP to construct a network out of a number of local area networks. You can also use TCP/IP to construct a wide area network using virtually any point-to-point digital circuit.

Types of Hardware That Make Up a Solaris Network

The term local area network (LAN) refers to a single network of computers limited to a moderate geographical range, such as the floor of a building or two adjacent buildings. A local area network has both hardware and software components. From a hardware perspective, a basic Solaris LAN consists of two or more computers attached to some form of local area network media.

Local Area Network Media

The cabling or wiring used for computer networks is referred to as network media. Figure 1-1 shows four computers connected to the Ethernet. In the Solaris LAN environment, Ethernet is the most commonly used local area network media. Other types of local area network media used in a Solaris LAN might include FDDI or Token Ring.

Figure 1-1

Computers and Their Connectors

Computers on a TCP/IP network have two different types of connectors that you use for connecting them to network media, the serial port and the ports on the network interface.

Serial Ports Each computer has at least two serial ports, the connectors that enable you to plug a printer or modem into the ...