SonicWALL Installation Guide Page 45
Network Hardware Components
•
Computers
- IBM- compatible, MAC, notebooks, and PDAs
•
Resources
- printers, fax machines, tape backup units, and file storage devices
•
Cables
- crossover, ethernet
•
Connectors
- bridges, routers
•
Network Interface Card (NIC) -
a card installed inside a computer that physically con-
nects a computer to a network and controls the flow of data from the network to the com-
puter. The NIC has a port where the network cable is connected.
Network Types
•
LAN
stands for
Local Area Network
. Local area refers to a network in one location, Local
Area Networks connect computers and devices close to each other such as on one floor of
a building, one building, or a campus. LANs can connect as few as two computers or as
many as 100 computers.
•
WAN
(
Wide Area Network
) connects LANs together. The networks that make up a WAN
can be located throughout a country or even around the world. If a single company owns
a WAN, it is often referred to as an enterprise network. The Internet is currently the largest
WAN.
Firewalls
A firewall is a software or hardware system that prevents unauthorized outside access, theft,
deletion, or modification of information stored on a local network. Typically, unauthorized
access would be via an organization’s Internet connection.
Gateways
A gateway can be a computer that acts as a connector between a private internal network and
another network such as the Internet. A gateway used as a firewall can transmit information
from an internal network to the Internet. Also, gateways can examine incoming information and
determine if the information is allowed access to the network.
Network Protocols
The method that used to regulate a workstation’s access to a computer network to prevent data
collisions. The SonicWALL uses the TCP/IP protocol.
•
TCP/IP
- Internet Protocol, or "IP", provides connectionless data transfer over a TCP/IP
network. Since IP alone does not provide end-to-end data reliability as well as some other
services, other protocols such as TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) can be added to
provide these services. In TCP/IP, TCP works with IP to ensure the integrity of the data
traveling over the network. TCP/IP is the protocol of the Internet.
•
FTP
- File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is used to transfer documents between different types
of computers on a TCP/IP network.
Summary of Contents for GX 250
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