Chapter 2: Life on the Network

After you hook up your PC to a network, it's not an island any more-separated from the rest of the world like some kind of isolationist fanatic waving a "Don't tread on me" flag. The network connection changes your PC forever. Now your computer is part of a system, connected to other computers on the network. You have to worry about annoying network details, such as using local and shared resources, logging on and accessing network drives, using network printers, logging off, and who knows what else.

Oh, bother.

This chapter brings you up to speed on what living with a computer network is like. Unfortunately, this chapter gets a little technical at times, so you may need your pocket protector.

Distinguishing between Local Resources and Network Resources

In case you don't catch this statement in Chapter 1, one of the most important differences between using an isolated computer and using a network computer lies in the distinction between local resources and network resources. Local resources are items, such as hard drives, printers, and CD-ROM or DVD drives, that are connected directly to your computer. You can use local resources whether you're connected to the network or not. Network resources, on the other hand, are the hard drives, printers, modems, and CD-ROM or DVD drives that are connected to the network's server computers. You can use network resources only after your computer is connected to the network.

The whole trick to using a computer network is to know which resources are local resources (they belong to you) and which are network resources (they belong to the network). In most networks, your C drive is a local drive. If a printer is sitting next to your PC, it's probably a local printer. You can do anything you want with these resources without affecting the network or other users on the network (as long as the local resources aren't shared on the network).

• You can't tell just by looking at a resource whether it's a local resource or a network resource. The printer that sits right next to your computer is probably your local printer, but then again, it may be a network printer. The same statement is true for hard drives: The hard drive in your PC is probably your own, but it may be a network drive, which can be used by others on the network.

• Because dedicated network servers are full of resources, you may say that they're not only dedicated (and sincere) but also resourceful. (Groan. Sorry, this is yet another in a tireless series of bad computer-nerd puns.)