Description
Book SynopsisA practical approach for anyone looking to enter the IT workforce Before candidates can begin to prepare for any kind of certification, they need a basic understanding of the various hardware and software components used in a computer network.
Table of ContentsIntroduction xxiii
Chapter 1 The Computer’s Brain: Processors and Memory 1
Introduction to Processors 2
Processor Performance. 2
Processor Types: A First Look. 2
Deciphering Processor Terminology. 3
The Intel Processor Lineup. 4
Factors Affecting Performance. 5
History of Intel Chips 6
The Pentium Family. 6
Pentium. 7
Pentium MMX. 7
Pentium Pro. 8
Pentium II (PII). 8
Celeron. 8
Pentium II Xeon 8
Pentium III (PIII). 8
Pentium III Xeon. 9
Itanium/Itanium 2. 9
Pentium 4 9
Tualatin. 9
Core i3 Series 9
Core i5 Series 10
Core i7 Series 10
Stacking Up the Competition. 10
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). 11
Cyrix 12
PowerPC. 12
Alpha 13
Using Multiprocessor and Multicore Computers 14
Cooling a System 16
Physical Memory 17
Random Access Memory (RAM). 17
RAM Types. 18
SIMMs 18
DIMMs. 18
RAM Speed. 19
Edo Ram. 19
Sdram 19
Ddr Sdram. 19
Ddr2 Sdram. 19
Ddr3 Sdram. 20
Read-Only Memory (ROM) 20
Other ROM Types. 20
Prom. 20
Eprom. 21
Eeprom 21
Bus Architecture. 21
Bus Types. 22
Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) 22
Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture (EISA). 22
FireWire (IEEE 1394) 23
Hdmi. 23
IBM Micro Channel Architecture (MCA). 23
Ibm Pc. 23
IBM PC-AT, or Industry Standard Architecture (ISA). 23
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI). 24
Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe). 24
Universal Serial Bus (USB). 24
Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) Local Bus (VL-Bus). 25
Terms to Know. 25
Review Questions. 26
Chapter 2 Storing Your Files: Data Storage 27
Keys to Data Storage. 28
Understanding Hard Drive Basics. 30
Selecting a Hard Drive. 30
Performance with Parallel ATA (PATA). 31
IDE Interface Standards. 33
Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA). 33
Ata-2. 34
Ultra-ATA. 34
Ultra-ATA/66, ATA/100, and Ultra ATA/133. 34
Performance with SATA Drives. 35
SATA revision 1 0. 35
SATA revision 2 0. 35
SATA revision 3 0. 35
eSATA. 36
Performance with SDD Drives 36
Performance with SCSI Drives. 36
SCSI Standards. 37
SCSI-1 and SCSI-2. 38
Scsi-3. 38
Ultra3 SCSI and Ultra320. 38
SCSI Termination. 39
Organizing Disks 39
Understanding Partition Types. 40
Active and Boot Partitions. 40
Primary Partition. 41
Extended Partition. 41
A Primer on Disk Drive Configurations. 41
Volume Set. 43
Disk Stripe Set. 44
Mirrored Set 45
Stripe Set with Parity Drive. 46
Stripe Set with Parity Stripe. 46
Types of Offline Data Storage. 47
Removable Storage Devices. 49
Compact Discs (CDs). 49
CD-Recordable. 50
CD-Rewritable (CD-RW). 50
Digital Video Discs (DVDs). 51
Blu-Ray Discs. 51
Tape Drives 51
Terms to Know. 53
Review Questions. 54
Chapter 3 Data Movement: Input/Output Devices 55
Understanding Ports. 56
Serial Ports. 56
Parallel Ports 57
USB Ports. 58
Thunderbolt. 59
Understanding Monitors. 59
Video Display Adapter Standards 60
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) 62
Light Emitting Diode (LED) 62
Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED). 62
DisplayPort 63
Vga 63
dvi 63
Connecting a Keyboard and Mouse. 63
Touch Screens. 65
Making Remote Connections. 65
Analog Modems. 66
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) 67
Cable Modems. 68
Isdn 69
Choosing a Printer 71
Choosing PC Cards. 73
Bus Standards 73
Plug and Play. 74
Terms to Know. 76
Review Questions. 77
Chapter 4 Hardware Configuration 79
Installing Hardware. 80
Installing Software Drivers. 81
Updating Software Drivers. 81
Handling Interrupts. 82
Using Base Memory and Identifying System Resources 83
Using I/O Memory. 85
Using DMA. 87
Terms to Know. 89
Review Questions. 90
Chapter 5 Desktop Operating Systems: A Comparison 91
In The Beginning: Understanding DOS 92
Understanding Windows 92
The Business Solution: Windows NT Workstation 4. 93
Windows 2000 Professional. 94
Windows XP Home Edition and XP Professional. 95
Windows XP Home Edition. 95
Windows XP Professional. 96
Windows Vista. 96
The Latest Generation: Windows 7. 97
Understanding Unix and Linux 99
Unix 99
Linux 100
Apple Operating Systems 101
Dual-Booting between OSs. 101
Terms to Know. 102
Review Questions. 103
Chapter 6 Command Shell 101: Basics Every Administrator Should Know 105
Introducing the Command-Line Interface 106
Creating a Directory Structure. 106
Manipulating the Directory Structure. 107
Listing Directories, Subdirectories, and Files 108
Creating and Deleting Directories. 108
Changing Directories 109
Copying and Moving Files. 110
Deleting and Renaming Files. 111
Deleting and Renaming Files. 112
Using Command-Line Wildcards. 114
Understanding File Attributes. 116
Changing the Time and Date. 118
Using Timesaving Keyboard Shortcuts. 118
Introducing PowerShell. 120
Installing PowerShell. 120
PowerShell Command Syntax 121
Discoverability 121
Adding Arguments 121
PowerShell Execution Policy 123
Using PowerShell Wildcards. 124
Understanding PowerShell Modules and Snap-Ins. 124
PowerShell Functions and Scripts. 127
Terms to Know. 128
Review Questions. 129
Chapter 7 Graphical Interface: Windows 7 Basics 131
A Quick Introduction. 132
Introduction to the Windows 7 Desktop 133
Snap 134
Shake 135
Peek 135
Gadgets 136
Desktop Background and Appearance. 137
Using the Start Button 139
All Programs 140
Search Programs and Files. 140
Help and Support. 141
Run 142
Shut Down. 142
Managing the Computer’s Settings: Appearance and Personalization 144
Changing Your Computer’s Theme. 146
Changing Your Desktop’s Background 147
Using a Screen Saver. 147
Changing the Screen Resolution 148
Viewing and Managing Folder Options. 149
Viewing and Managing Taskbar and Start Menu Options. 150
Accessing the Computer Window. 151
Accessing Network Resources 153
Using the Recycle Bin. 154
Creating Shortcuts 155
Using Wizards. 155
Using Windows Explorer 156
Terms to Know. 158
Review Questions. 159
Chapter 8 A Communications Framework 161
Understanding OSI Model Basics. 162
Data Transfer in the OSI Model. 164
Layer 1: The Physical Layer 165
Physical Layer Technologies. 166
Physical Layer Hardware. 167
Layer 2: The Data-Link Layer 167
Frame Description. 167
Sublayers of Data-Link 168
Data-Link Layer Devices. 168
Layer 3: The Network Layer. 168
Network Layer Example 169
Layer 4: The Transport Layer. 170
Other Transport Layer Functions 171
Network and Transport Layer Technologies. 171
Layer 5: The Session Layer. 171
Creating a Connection. 172
Transferring Data and Using Dialog Control. 172
Terminating a Connection. 173
Layer 6: The Presentation Layer. 173
Character Code Translation. 173
Data Encryption. 174
Data Compression and Expansion. 174
Layer 7: The Application Layer. 174
Service Advertisement 175
Service Processing 175
Terms to Know. 176
Review Questions. 177
Chapter 9 Network Models 179
Considering Peer-to-Peer Networks. 180
When Appropriate. 181
Common OS Examples 181
Viewing Network Configurations for Windows 7 Computers. 182
Configuring Local Area Connection Properties. 183
Identifying the Computer. 184
Considering Client-Server Networks 185
When Appropriate. 185
Common OS Examples 186
The Directory Services Model 186
When Appropriate. 188
Terms to Know. 188
Review Questions. 189
Chapter 10 Data-Link and Network Layer Protocols 191
Introduction to Topologies. 192
Bus Topology. 192
Star Topology. 193
Ring Topology. 194
Mesh Topology 195
Ethernet Communication Architecture. 196
Benefits and Drawbacks of Ethernet 197
Ethernet Standards. 198
Ethernet Hardware 199
Ethernet Bus Topology 199
Ethernet Star Topology. 200
Using TCP/IP 201
Benefits of TCP/IP. 202
Disadvantages of TCP/IP. 202
IPv4 Addressing. 203
IPv4 Configuration 204
IP Address. 204
Subnet Mask. 204
Default Router, or Gateway 204
IPv6 Addressing. 205
IPv6 Configuration 205
The Function of DHCP in an IP Network. 206
The Function of DNS in an IP Network 207
Terms to Know. 208
Review Questions. 209
Chapter 11 Network Operating Systems: A Comparison 211
Introduction to an NOS. 212
What to Look for in an NOS. 213
Windows Server 2003 R2. 214
When to Choose Windows Server 2003 R2. 214
Windows Server 2008. 214
When to Choose Windows Server 2008. 215
Windows Server 2008 R2. 216
When to Choose Windows Server 2008 R2. 216
Unix Servers. 217
When to Choose Unix. 217
Linux 217
When to Choose Linux 218
Terms to Know. 218
Review Questions. 219
Chapter 12 Windows Server 2008 R2 Origins and Platforms 221
Understanding the Origins of Windows Server. 222
Provide Flexibility in OS Code. 222
Offer High Performance 222
Be Reliable. 222
Use Portable Code. 223
Be Compatible with Existing Standards. 223
Understanding NT 4. 223
NT Server 4. 224
NT Server/E 4 224
Understanding Windows 2000/Windows Server 2003. 225
Windows Server 2003 System Requirements. 227
Windows Server 2003 Family Features. 228
Understanding Windows Server 2008/Windows Server 2008 R2. 230
Windows Server 2008 R2 System Requirements. 230
Windows Server 2008 R2 Family Features 231
Terms to Know. 232
Review Questions. 233
Chapter 13 Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 Active Directory Domain Services 235
Features of the Active Directory Domain Services. 236
Structure of the Active Directory Domain Services 238
Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R 2
Domains. 239
Organizational Units. 240
Forests and Trees. 242
Forests. 242
Trees 243
Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Trusts. 243
External Trusts. 244
Forest Trusts. 245
Shortcut Trusts. 246
Realm Trusts. 246
The Physical Network. 247
Sites 247
Domain Controllers. 248
Specialized Domain Controllers. 248
Global Catalogs. 249
Operations Master Roles. 249
Terms to Know. 250
Review Questions. 251
Chapter 14 Account Management 253
Structuring the Active Directory. 254
Organizational Units. 254
Groups. 255
Using and Creating Groups. 256
Types of Groups. 256
Global Group 257
Domain Local Group 257
Universal Group 258
Local Group 258
Creating a Group. 259
Configuring a Group. 260
User Accounts. 261
Creating User Accounts. 262
Configuring User Accounts. 264
Terms to Know. 266
Review Questions. 267
Chapter 15 File and Print Management 269
Sharing Folders. 270
Creating a New Share 271
Applying Permissions for Accessing Folders. 273
Assigning Permissions to Users and Groups. 275
Using NTFS 278
Selecting a File System. 280
Understanding the Basics of NTFS 281
Assigning NTFS Permissions. 281
Combining NTFS and Share Permissions 283
Applying NTFS Permissions 284
Understanding Share and NTFS Permission Interaction. 285
Accessing Resources. 286
Sharing Printers 287
Understanding Network Printing Basics 287
Creating a Printer. 288
Configuring Printer Properties. 289
Sharing a Printer 290
Establishing Print Permissions. 291
Terms to Know. 292
Review Questions. 293
Appendix A Review Question Answers 295
Appendix B Common Acronyms 305
Glossary 311
Index 325
