Software

Software provides the protocol and services layers of the Windows networking model. When talking about software we focus on the services layer more than the software layer. Client PC hosts can be configured with peer-to-peer networking and client server services. Server software implements the services side of client/server software.

Windows software dominates SOHO LANs because basic networking functions are built in. Windows and other LAN servers perform general and specific network functions as determined by the capabilities of the software installed on them. Some Windows servers can be assigned database operation, others network management functions, while still others can act as fax and e-mail servers. Each special server requires basic Windows server software and then additional network application software for the specific function performed. For example, a Structured Query Language (SQL) Server would need the basic Microsoft Windows XP or Windows 2000 Server Software and then the Microsoft SQL Server software as well. Similarly, an e-mail server would need the Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Software and the Microsoft Exchange Server software. Not all server packages require Windows Server. For example, Microsoft SQL Server can run from Windows 2000 Professional just fine for some small SOHO offices because Windows 2000 Professional supports only 10 simultaneously active connections under peer-to-peer networking.

Basic Windows XP software supports peer-to-peer networking, while special Windows server software is needed to implement client/server networking.

Peer-to-Peer

Virtually all Windows software supports peer-to-peer networking services. This covers Windows 3.1 (Windows for Workgroups), Windows 9x, Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. Home-office LANs rely on peer-to-peer networking services, while small-office LANs may use both peer-to-peer networking and client/server networking services.

Windows XP network security hides a Windows PC host on a TCP/IP network. The PING, TRACERT, and PATHPING (Windows 2000/XP) commands cannot find a Windows XP PC host when the firewall function is enabled on that Windows XP PC host.

Windows XP/2000

Windows XP/2000 are significant 21st-century networking products because networking components are neatly integrated into the operating system. Additionally, Windows comes with a broad set of client software for most of the popular network operating systems. This allows Windows to operate as a client for other servers on your network. Windows can also work in a peer-to-peer networking system. Windows provides interoperability to the following networks:

Windows supplies this flexibility though modularization of the network components. This means that network components can be added, removed, or updated in some cases without disturbing the other network components. A reboot may be required to activate the component before its change takes effect. The downside here is that Microsoft software products are very much “a la carte.” You must buy Windows server software and then add modular Windows application software to support other key small-office network applications. Once added, Microsoft application software intertwines with Windows and cannot be easily removed.

Windows 9x

Similar to Windows XP/2000, Windows 9x software has both peer-to-peer services and client/server client services built in. Windows 9x does not act as a centralized server in client/server networks because it is not as reliable and robust as is Windows XP/2000. With Windows 9x, one server running peer-to-peer services can be designated as a network server, but it is limited to 10 simultaneously active client connections.

Client/Server

Windows 2000 and Windows NT have special server software that implements client/server computing. This server software permits the central network user and TCP/IP management needed in larger small-office LANs.

Windows 2000 Server

Windows 2000 is Microsoft's latest client/server network operating system. It comes in several flavors, with the most powerful being the Windows 2000 Advanced Server software. Windows 2000 in a single integrated network operating system (NOS) provides a Web applications platform, Internet performance and scalability, and security based on the latest standards and technologies to extend enterprise operations using the Internet.

Windows 2000 Server can:

Windows implements Active Server Pages (ASP), allowing the Web to become dynamic and highly personalized. Windows supports Extensible Markup Language (XML). XML integrates data from multiple sources, reduces network traffic, and supports more useful searches. Windows supports streaming media. This allows development and distribution of real-time presentations and rich multimedia content to both internal and external audiences. Streaming media can send full-screen video to PC clients on demand and provide CD-quality audio.

Windows 2000, like Windows NT, is designed to increase performance through symmetric multi-processing (SMP) support. SMP means that Windows takes equal advantage of multiple microprocessors on the same machine. Although microprocessors get faster and faster, real scalability is achieved by adding more processors to a single server. Windows allows demanding high-end applications to access and use more memory. Windows 2000 Server supports four CPUs and Windows 2000 Advanced Server supports eight.

A second approach to increasing performance is combining several servers into a cluster. Microsoft refers to this approach as scaling out. Scaling out distributes a computing workload among multiple servers by clustering or load balancing.

A Windows 2000 Network Load Balancing (NLB) service is part of Advanced Server. With NLB an Internet site can grow by adding more Windows servers. NLB directs traffic on the site, spreading the traffic across multiple servers without requiring new applications development or reengineering.

Enterprise LANs support intranets, Internet sites, and extranets requiring increased system security. Confidential information may be stored on mobile computing devices that can be stolen or lost. Windows has end-to-end security that integrates systems both inside and outside an enterprise into the enterprise LAN while controlling LAN access and protecting data. Security includes identifying who is accessing systems, including digital “keys” to access selected data. A single ID permits users to access their own computer and other shared resources on the enterprise LAN, the Internet, or on an extranet. Windows 2000 Server has comprehensive, standards-based security services, including flexible authentication, data encryption, flexible and secure network access, and protection of virtual private networks (VPNs). Windows 2000 uses core Internet standards such as IP Security (IPSec) and secure transaction processing.

NetWare

For almost a decade Novell claimed the lion's share of the network operating system market. For nearly as long they enjoyed little competition. They provided an easy-to-implement client/server solution for connecting PCs, together. NetWare ran on many network types, including Ethernet and the Token Ring. Originally, NetWare used a flat bindery database approach to user management, providing easy-to-use, menu-driven tools for DOS-based PCs. This was the most successful network operating system package for SOHO DOS-based PC LANs for many years.

NetWare's primary competitor is the Microsoft Windows operating system. Novell redesigned NetWare to work as part of larger and heterogeneous networks, including the Internet. NetWare adopted domain management and a hierarchical network management database structure to support enterprise-wide LANs. This was called NetWare Directory Services (NDS). This jump from simple DOS menu-driven network management to hierarchical network management was very difficult for most NetWare users because the network management paradigm was so different. At that time it was easier to use the Windows network management paradigm to manage enterprise-wide LANs with Windows PC clients.

Windows 2000 now provides a hierarchical network management database structure to support enterprise-wide LANs called Active Directory. The Active Directory in Windows 2000 is easier to transition to than was NetWare's NDS.

Today, Novell offers its NetWare 6 products. NetWare 6 is designed to work with the Internet as a major enabler of Novell's oneNet concept of non-stop access to network services through any device, at any time, and from any location. NetWare 6 is a Web-based network operating system using TCP/IP. NetWare 5.1 originally integrated NDS with the industry standard Domain Name System (DNS) and the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). NetWare 6 now embraces standards such as HTTP, Java, and XML that comprise the universal conventions of the Internet. NetWare 6 has a multiprocessing kernel. Additional NetWare 6 features include a next generation file system supporting Storage Area Networks (SANs), printing services, and advanced security that has public-key cryptography and Secure Authentication Services—SAS.

NetWare servers and file system are managed through a Web browser from any location in a network. Some tasks performed through the Web browser connecting with a NetWare server include mounting and dismounting volumes, monitoring system resources, browsing the NDS tree, and many other routine management tasks.

NetWare supports all open Internet standards, including Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) v3. LDAP accesses directory information from many different directories.

Novell software is predominately client/server LAN software aimed at small-office and enterprise LANs. Novell's NetWare provides the server software and the client software. The server software is licensed for a specific number of active client stations. Novell's NetWare is high-performance disk and print serving LAN server software. NetWare has always been robust server software. Today, Windows and UNIX are more dominant in the small-office LAN market.

UNIX

UNIX is an operating system developed at Bell Labs in 1969 as an interactive time-sharing system. It has evolved as a large freeware product with different extensions and new ideas provided in its many versions. Businesses, universities, and individuals developed these UNIX versions. Because UNIX was not a proprietary operating system owned by a single computer company and because UNIX is written in the standardized C programming language, UNIX became the first standard open operating system. As an open operating system UNIX could be improved or enhanced by anyone.

IEEE standardized the C language and UNIX user command interfaces as the Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX). POSIX interfaces specified in the X/Open Programming Guide 4.2 became known as UNIX 95 or the Single UNIX Specification. Version 2 of the Single UNIX Specification is labeled UNIX 98. The Open Group, an industry standards organization, which certifies and brands UNIX implementations, owns the “official” trademarked UNIX.

UNIX operating systems are used in workstations produced by Sun Microsystems, Silicon Graphics, and IBM. UNIX and its client/server program model played a key role in Internet development and in reshaping computing to center it in networks of computers rather than in individual computers. Linux is a UNIX derivative. Linux has both free software and commercial versions. Linux is increasing in popularity as an alternative to proprietary operating systems.

UNIX software is used heavily in Internet servers. It is server software but has been adapted to perform client operations as well. Client UNIX requires an easy-to-use graphical user interface to front-end the cryptic command-level interface. Availability of hardware driver programs for UNIX software may also be an issue. The best things about UNIX software are as follows:

Linux is free and available for download over the Internet. However, the easiest way to install Linux is to use CD-ROMs because installation from CD-ROM is automatic. Internet installations are done manually. CD-ROM collections known as distributions are purchased for a small fee. A standard distribution typically includes more than just the necessary Linux OS software. A distribution includes programming languages, editors, hardware drivers, window managers, and other CD-ROMs of software that may contain well over 1,000 individual programs.

The primary benefits of UNIX (Linux) as an operating system are the cost—Windows and NetWare licenses cost into the hundreds of thousands of dollars for a large enterprise, and then its robust performance. The main difficulty with Linux and UNIX is that the command line interface is very cryptic. This means that most Linux/UNIX servers install a Windows-like graphical user interface (GUI) shell to make UNIX more usable by less technical humans. Administering a Unix (Linux) server requires different administrative and computer skills and knowledge than administering a Windows server. UNIX and Linux servers are used in small-office LANs as well as in the world's largest server operations.