Networking / Beginners

Configuring the NIC settings

When you have confirmed that the NIC is operating correctly, you can configure the software settings for the NIC. The settings and configuration information you need depend on the protocol you are using.

Choosing protocols

Choosing the correct protocol is an important consideration when configuring a network or adding systems to an existing network. The client and the server must use the same protocol in order for communication to take place. This section provides a brief summary of the commonly used protocols.

  • TCP/IP-By far the most prevalent of network protocol suites, TCP/IP is available for almost every computing platform and has widespread industry support. The majority of LANs now use TCP/IP as the default protocol. Configuring TCP/IP connectivity requires the use of an IP address, a subnet mask, a default gateway, and possibly Domain Name Service (DNS) server information and Windows Internet Naming System (WINS) information.
  • IPX/SPX-Novell invented and implemented IPX/SPX when it introduced NetWare in the 1980s. At that time, TCP/IP was for the most part an academic/military/government protocol, and Novell realized the need for a robust, routable protocol. IPX/SPX is one of the main reasons that Novell owned the networking market through the 1980s and most of the 1990s. IPX/SPX was also easy to install and configure. Today, TCP/IP has largely displaced IPX. One of the advantages of IPX is that workstation configuration is very simple. Generally speaking, the only item that might need to be configured is the frame type, which determines the format in which data is grouped into the frames that are placed on the network. Older versions of NetWare use a frame type called 802.3, whereas newer versions use a frame type called 802.2. Fortunately, most client software is able to detect the frame type automatically.
  • NWLink-When Microsoft began working on adding support for interoperability with NetWare, it opted to develop its own fully compatible version of Novell's proprietary IPX/SPX. This development was necessary because earlier versions of NetWare did not support authentication over TCP/IP.
    Remember On the Network, be careful when determining whether connectivity to a NetWare server is required from a Microsoft client. NWLink is the required protocol because Microsoft does not directly support IPX/SPX. Watch for this same situation in reverse as well: NetWare uses IPX/SPX to communicate with a Windows NT Server running NWLink.
  • NetBEUI-Microsoft chose IBM's NetBEUI as the protocol for its first networking implementation in the mid-1980s. One of the reasons Microsoft chose to base its early networking efforts on NetBEUI was the protocol's simplicity and speed. Microsoft wanted to offer a very simple, easy workgroup configuration. Name services and addressing are both handled automatically with NetBEUI. There are no configuration issues, other than setting up the NIC and installing NetBEUI as the protocol. Because of NetBEUI's simplicity, administrators sometimes use it to troubleshoot hard-to-find communication problems between two machines. The simplicity of NetBEUI also created problems for Microsoft as the 1980s progressed. NetBEUI is a non-routable protocol, and as networks began to interconnect, Microsoft found its clients stranded within the confines of small LANs.

As mentioned earlier, TCP/IP is by far the most common of the networking protocols in use today. For that reason, the next section takes a more indepth look at configuring client systems to use TCP/IP.

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In this tutorial:

  1. Network Operating Systems and Clients
  2. Network operating systems
  3. Windows NT 4
  4. Domains and workgroups
  5. Windows NT 4 authentication
  6. Windows NT 4 file and print services
  7. Windows NT 4 application support
  8. Windows NT 4 security
  9. Windows NT 4 and Windows 2000 file system security
  10. Windows 2000
  11. Windows 2000 Active Directory and domains
  12. Windows 2000 authentication
  13. Windows 2000 file and print services
  14. Windows 2000 application support
  15. Novell NetWare
  16. NDS (Novell Directory Services)
  17. NetWare authentication
  18. NetWare file and print services
  19. NetWare application support
  20. NetWare security
  21. Linux
  22. Linux file and print services
  23. Linux application support
  24. Linux security
  25. Operating system interoperability
  26. Using Windows with NetWare
  27. Using Windows and Linux servers
  28. Using NetWare and Linux servers
  29. Operating system client support
  30. NetWare server client support
  31. Linux server client support
  32. Client operating systems
  33. Local security mechanisms for Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me
  34. Windows NT Workstation, Windows 2000 Professional, and Windows XP Professional
  35. Client connectivity for Windows NT Workstation, Windows 2000 Professional, and Windows XP Professional
  36. Applications for Linux
  37. Local security mechanisms for Linux
  38. Macintosh
  39. Application support for Macintosh
  40. Selecting a NIC and network configuration settings
  41. Connecting the PC to the network
  42. Testing and troubleshooting the NIC
  43. Configuring the NIC settings
  44. Configuring client systems for TCP/IP
  45. Configuring DNS server information
  46. Configuring WINS server information
  47. Using DHCP (Dynamic Host Control Protocol)
  48. Configuring clients to access servers
  49. Client software for Microsoft networks on Windows 95/98/Me
  50. Novell client software
  51. Unix/Linux client software