Lesson 47 - Networking

Networking is the most mysterious concept of this module because it runs silently in the background while we look for files, print documents and go to the web to search for sites. However, is the basis for all we do today and will become more important in the future and this is why we have this lesson.

Networking was thought of as wires coming out of our computers and going somewhere so we can communicate with other computers. It was something we have in our schools or offices. With homes now having more than one computer, networking has entered our homes. It is interesting, in the latest Home Depot insert, they are now selling tools to help you network your house! So it seems hardware stores will now have a section for the do it yourself networking person.

Networking was thought of as laying wiring over distances to get connectivity for all computers in a school or office. We now have wireless technology the wave of the future here now. When I go to work at the ATR office, I come in, insert a wireless LAN card into my PC boot up and I am on the network. To my knowledge St. Andrews Priory is one of the first schools in Hawaii to have a wireless LAN on their campus so students can have connectivity anywhere on campus without having to worry about wiring!

Therefore, it is important you get a basic understanding about networking and what it is all about. Previous years of T3 whole modules were dedicated to networking, this year we are trying to bring it down to a level where the classroom teacher understands and has some knowledge. We are not expecting you to come out network experts, but we want you to come away with an understanding of how the information gets to your computer in the classroom.

In my journeys on the Internet looking for sites of relevance to you, I discovered a wonderful site that is part of an online course on networking. The chapters bring the concepts down to a human level and make it easy to understand for the person just being introduced to networking.

I want to thank Steve Kuyath an instructor at Central Piedmont Community College for allowing us to link to his site and would like you to go to ELN 237 Local Area Networks and read chapters 1,2,3,6, and 7. This is one of the best explanations of networks I have seen to date.

For those of you who would like to go into greater depth, here are some links you can check out courtesy of Lynn Fujii, Hilo site instructor. They are some very good sites I have bookmarked myself!

Connectivity Tech Library from Connectworld

Doug's Networking Page

Threemacs Apple Network Tutorial

Threemacs Apple Wireless Networking overview Basic overview of Apple's Airport wireless network system

Macintosh Networking A little dated but still a good source of information