Understanding TCPIP Basics

Chapter 7. Configuring Network Connectivity

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Understanding TCP/IP Basics

• Configuring Network Connections

• Connecting to a VPN

• Sharing a Single Internet Connection with Multiple Computers

• Using the Built-in Tiger Firewall

Unix, as a rule, is happiest when it gets to run as an always-on, always-network-connected operating system. Unix machines tend to run continuously (talking to other machines via the network) for months or years at a time, and the underpinnings of the networking system are designed for this mode of operation. Surprisingly, Apple has managed to pin a reasonable facsimile of the Mac OS as-needed picture of networking at the user level onto the Unix networking framework. You've already learned how to set up basic networking functions during the install process. In later chapters, you'll learn how this was accomplished at the Unix level, and how to perform even more sophisticated network tricks at the command line. In this chapter, we'll cover some of the GUI network controls.