The author's front line experience in designing and managing...

The term "peer-to-peer" has come to be applied to networks that expect end users to contribute their own files, computing time, or other resources to some shared project. Even more interesting than the systems' technical underpinnings are their socially disruptive potential: in various ways they return content, choice, and control to ordinary users.While this book is mostly about the technical promise of peer-to-peer, we also talk about its exciting social promise. Communities have been forming on the Internet for a long time, but they have been limited by the flat interactive qualities of...

This unique book offers a vendor-neutral approach for designing large local area networks according to business or organizational needs, rather than from a product perspective. Author and independent network design consultant Kevin Dooley outlines "top-down network design" for building a technological infrastructure to fit your organization's requirements, a process far more effective and cost-efficient than fitting the organization to the parameters of a shrink-wrapped proprietary solution.Dooley argues that the design of a network is largely independent of the products used. Whether you...

Take a geek and a PC, add one soldering iron, a home, and a copy of Home Hacking Projects for Geeks, and you'll give new meaning to the term, "home improvement." From fearless neophytes to tool-wielding masterminds, the home hacker in any geek will find new inspiration and plenty of hands-on guidance to take on a variety of home-transforming projects once relegated to the world of sci-fi.This fun new guide combines creativity with electricity and power tools to achieve cool--and sometimes even practical--home automation projects. Never again will you have to flip a light switch when...

Millions of computers around the world today are connected by the Internet, so why is it still so hard to hook up a few PCs in you own home? Whether you want to share an Internet connection, install WiFi, or maybe just cut down on the number of printers you own, home networks are supposed to help make your life easier. Instead, most aspiring home networkers get lost in a confusing maze of terms and technologies: 802.11g, Fast Ethernet, Cat 5 cable (or was it Cat 5e?), Powerline, and on and confusingly on.That's where Home Networking: The Missing Manual comes in. Using clear...

So much of what is commonplace today was once considered impossible, or at least wishful thinking. Laser beams in the operating room, cars with built-in guidance systems, cell phones with email access. There's just no getting around the fact that technology always has, and always will be, very cool.But technology isn't only cool; it's also very smart. That's why one of the hottest technological trends nowadays is the creation of smart homes.At an increasing rate, people are turning their homes into state-of-the-art machines, complete with more switches, sensors, and actuators than you can...

The beauty of a home network is that it can make life so easy--what could be better than sharing an Internet connection so that everyone can be online at the same time? With home networking you can move files from one computer to another, share resources, print to a single printer or multiple printers from any computer in the house, and IM the kids when they're holed up in their rooms. And the downside? Anyone who's ever had to troubleshoot a network glitch doesn't need to ask that question. The simple words, "Why can't I print? Why can't I get to the Internet? Why does my computer say...

Network Architecture and Design takes readers through every phase of a new project from client meetings, site surveys, data collection and interpretation, documentation to actually designing and implementing the network according to spec. The discussion includes:

• An overview of LAN and WAN topologies
• Coverage of NOS (Novell Operating System)
• Integration of the client operating system (this 50% of network architecture is often overlooked in similar titles)
• Protocols
• Connectivity Devices
• Implementing Remote Access
• Security
...