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1.How to turn on printer sharing in Mac OS X 10.3?

Turning Printer Sharing on will allow users on your network to access printers attached to a computer.

All printers listed in your Printer List are shared, whether they are connected directly to your computer or you access them over a network.

Step 1: Open System Preferences and then click Sharing.

Step 2: In the Services pane, select Printer Sharing and then click Start.

2. How do I use the ping utility in Macintosh OS X?

The ping utility is a great tool for troubleshooting the network. This tool is now built into Macintosh OS X.

Step 1: Click on Go > Applications > Utilities.

Step 2: Click on Network Utility and then click the Ping tab.

Step 3: Enter in the IP address you wish to ping in the first field provided. You can either select an unlimited number of pings or send a specific number of pings, then click the ping button.

Step 4: If you receive bytes from… then the destination IP address was successfully hit. If you receive request time out then the destination IP address was not successfully pinged. If you receive destination host unreachable then you are not in the same subnet as the destination address and you will need to change your IP address to communicate with the destination address.

Tags: Mac OS, ping, printer sharing

A good way to test the card is to assign an IP address to the card in the TCP/IP properties for the card in the Network Properties control panel. After you assign the card an IP address and a subnet mask, you can use the ping utility from a DOS prompt to test the card. If you get four replies when pinging, it is another very good sign that the card is functioning properly.

Using the Ping command

Step 1: Open the MS-DOS program on your computer.

Step 2: From the default location, enter the word ping, a space and then the IP address of your network card. Hit the Enter key on your keyboard.

A response of four replies indicates that the network card is properly installed and that TCP/IP is correctly bound to the card.

Another good way is looking at the card itself. If your computer is up and running and connected to a switch, hub or another computer directly with a crossover cable and the light is illuminated next to where the cable is plugged into it, then that is a good indicator of whether or not the card is working.

Tags: adapter

WEP

WEP stands for Wired Equivalent Privacy. It is based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and uses the RC4 encryption algorithm. Enabling WEP allows you to increase security by encrypting data being transferred over your wireless network.

When WEP encryption is enabled, there are up to four options*: 64-bit and 128-bit. 64-bit is the same as 40-bit WEP. The lower level of WEP encryption uses a 40-bit (10 character) “secret key” (set by the user), and a 24-bit “initialization vector” (not under user control). So lower level 40 and 64 bit WEP cards are equivalent in encryption strength and compatibility.

* 802.11B supports 64 and 128-bit encryption, 802.11B+ (enhanced) supports 64, 128, and 256-bit encryption, 802.11G support 64 and 128-bit, and 802.11A supports 64, 128, and 152-bit encryption.

WPA

WPA, or Wi-Fi Protected Access, is a Wi-Fi standard that was designed to improve the security features of WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy). The technology is designed to work with existing Wi-Fi products that have been enabled with WEP (i.e., as a software/firmware upgrade to existing hardware).

Tags: WEP, WPA

Store-and-Forward:

Store-and-Forward switching will wait until the entire frame has arrived prior to forwarding it. This method stores the entire frame in memory. Once the frame is in memory, the switch checks the destination address, source address, and the CRC. If no errors are present, the frame is forwarded to the appropriate port. This process ensures that the destination network is not affected by corrupted or truncated frames.

Cut-Through:

Cut-Through switching will begin forwarding the frame as soon as the destination address is identified. The difference between this and Store-and-Forward is that Store-and-Forward receives the whole frame before forwarding. Since frame errors cannot be detected by reading only the destination address, Cut-Through may impact network performance by forwarding corrupted or truncated frames. These bad frames can create broadcast storms wherein several devices on the network respond to the corrupted frames simultaneously.

Tags: Cut-Through, Store-and-Forward

Step 1 Click Start > Control Panel > Network Connections.

Step 2 In Network Connections select Create a new connection.

Step 3 In the New Connection Wizard window click Next.

Step 4 Select Setup a home or small office network and then click Next.

Step 5 Click Finish to close the New Connection Wizard and start the Network Setup Wizard.

Step 6 In the Network Setup Wizard window click Next.

Step 7 Click Next.

Step 8 If you have Internet Connection Sharing enabled, you will be asked if you want to use the shared connection. Select No, let me choose another way to connect to the Internet using the radio buttons. Then click Next.

Step 9 Select This computer connects to the Internet through another computer on my network or through a residential gateway using the radio buttons. Then click Next.

Step 10 Next to Computer description enter a description of your computer (optional). Next to Computer name enter a name. This will be used to identify your computer on the network. All computers on a network must have names but cannot have the same name. Click Next to continue.

Step 11 Next to Workgroup name enter the name of your workgroup. A workgroup name identifies a group of computers on a network. All computers on your network should use the same workgroup name. Click Next.

Step 12 The below screen will display the setting that you are about to apply. Click Next.

Step 13 Please wait while the Network Setup Wizard applies the new settings.

Step 14 Select Create a Network Setup Disk using the radio buttons. Click Next.

Step 15 If you have more than one removable media drive you will be prompted to select the drive that you want to copy the files to. Left-click the drive once to select it. Click Next.

Step 16 You will be prompted to insert a floppy disk. Insert the disk into the drive that you selected in Step 15. To format the disk or removable storage device click Format Disk. Click Next.

Step 17 Wait while the Network Setup Wizard copies files.

Step 18 Read the instructions on how to run the Network Setup Wizard on other computers on your network. When you are finished click Next.

Step 19 Click Finish to close the Network Setup Wizard.

Step 20 You will be prompted to restart your computer. Click Yes to restart now or No to restart later. Your computer must be restarted before the new changes will take effect.

Step 21 Follow the instructions that you obtained in Step 18 and run the Network Setup Wizard on the other computers on your network.

Tags: Windows XP