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Anti Spam at the Enterprise Level
Copyright 2005 Richard Keir
Every one of us knows how spam impacts us. Every day we either get a ton of spam - or if we're fairly well protected by spam filters - only a few pieces.
Like a large number of people, I don't use any spam filters....
Chicken Little Entrepreneurs
Chicken Little is hurrying Umbrella 'neath her wing. She thinks the sky is falling fast So goes to tell the King. But, after she has spread the news And all is told and said The good old King just laughs at her And sends her home...
How to change, upgrade or remove and IDE hard drive
Hard drives - Hard drives are a little more complicated. First off, you have to know what you want to do with the hard drive. By this, I mean either you want it set to either SLAVE or MASTER. If you want to boot from the hard drive (load windows or...
The Trials and Tribulations of A Confused Computer
During a recent period of the fretted PC breakdown,I came to realize that I took my computer for granted.I thought the high tech machine would never let me down and I was never further from the truth. Just when I thought things were going...
Top 7 Reasons You Should Back Up Your Data Online!
How much is your data worth to you? In this modern electronic-age we rely more than ever on our computers to supply us with the information we need. Chances are every piece of data you might ever rely on to make an important decision has been...
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DHCP
At my day job, we were tasked with creating a Windows NT 4.0 network from scratch with only minimal training on the operating system. We were experts at working with OpenVMS and MacIntosh systems, but none of us had ever seen Windows NT before. In those days long ago we were very cocky, and very naive - how hard could it be to set up a new TCP/IP network? After all, we had mastered DECnet and Appletalk, could IP be any harder?
We soon learned the error of our ways - TCP/IP is far more complex than we had originally believed. However, after some head scratching and a few phone calls, we managed to get our network up and running.
We didn't know any better, so we simply hard coded the TCP/IP address into each workstation and server. In fact, we hard coded everything, including the DNS and WINS server addresses, the subnet and the gateway address.
For our purposes, this worked great for several years. We added machines slowly and planned everything far in advance, so it was no big deal to just add a new machine to the network. A few simple edits to the network control panel was all that was needed, and since our network was very static, we didn't have to visit those setting very often at all.
As our company grew this scheme started to get more and more awkward. Originally we had a nice, isolated, self-contained network, but now we needed to get on the internet, we were adding not only new workstations and servers at a furious rate, but we had to deal with PDAs, handheld systems, standalone file servers and hundreds of other computers.
To make matters even worse, where our network was very static, now it was becoming dynamic. Computers would be added and removed constantly - someone would plug his handheld into an ethernet jack, get their email, unplug and be gone.
The static TCP/IP scheme that we had been using (a spreadsheet with a list of machines and related addresses) was simply no longer working. Fortunately, there was an answer - DHCP.
The acronym DHCP stands for "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol", and it means exactly what it says. Once we discovered this new tool we realized we had found the solution to our
problem - and we kicked ourselves mentally for not reading up on this wonderful tool long before.
To use DHCP is so straightforward that the only excuse for not using it is lack of knowledge. You create a DHCP server - depending upon the size of your network this can be added to an existing server (the network traffic is not usually very high) or you may need to use a dedicated system. Some people use the DHCP server that comes with Windows NT or whatever operating system they happen to be running. We found the best solution was to purchase a "DHCP appliance" - a small computer intended to host DHCP and only DHCP.
Once you've got your DHCP server installed, you use an interface of some kind (often just any browser such as Internet Explorer) to define your network parameters. These include the range of available TCP/IP addresses, the gateway address, the addresses (primary and secondary) of your DNS or name servers, and any of dozens of other parameters.
Now comes the really cool part. From this point forward, any machine on your network can, if told to do so, get all of the TCP/IP information from this DHCP server. This means you no longer need to enter and/or change any of this data. It's all handled for you. Windows 2000 Professional systems even use DHCP by default, which means new workstations practically work out of the box.
To make this all easy for home users as well, many hardware firewalls include a DHCP server as part of the package. This means if you get one of these firewalls (and it will tell you on the box or instructions if it has a DHCP server built-in) you can just plug computers in at home and not worry very much about TCP/IP.
The bottom line is there is no reason not to use DHCP for your workstations, laptops and handheld devices (it's not a good idea in general to use it for servers). You can even use it at home if you get the proper firewall.
About the Author
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets at http://www.internet-tips.net - Visit our website any time to read over 1,000 complete FREE articles about how to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
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Tom's Hardware |
: Tom's Hardware Guide is the Internet's premiere resource for hardware news and reviews. |
www.tomshardware.com |
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HardwareCentral - Your source for in-depth computer hardware info. |
HardwareCentral is the #1 Hardware Information Resource on the 'Net. Featuring over 600 pages of Hardware information, including advice on System ... |
www.hardwarecentral.com |
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Apple - Hardware |
Find your favorite Mac, iPod and other Apple accessories. |
www.apple.com |
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Ace Hardware |
Nationwide (United States) hardware and home improvement retailer. Includes products, dealer locator and corporate information. |
www.acehardware.com |
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Computer hardware - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
The hardware of a computer is infrequently changed, in comparison with software and ... Personal computers, the computer hardware familiar to most people, ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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Hardware - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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en.wikipedia.org |
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Open Directory - Computers: Hardware |
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dmoz.org |
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Microsoft Hardware � Home Page |
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www.microsoft.com |
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AnandTech: your source for hardware analysis and news |
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www.anandtech.com |
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hardware.com - Routers, switches, firewalls, servers, memory ... |
Supplier of new and refurbished networking hardware and approved and compatible network accessories. Located in the United Kingdom. |
www.hardware.com |
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Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters |
From the article: "Although the news caused barely a ripple of reaction in the audience of software and hardware engineers, there are industry analysts who ... |
hardware.slashdot.org |
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InformationWeek HardwareTech Center |
Our hardware coverage ranges from mobile computers and PDAs to servers and supercomputers, and the infrastructure issues enterprises deal with every day. ... |
www.informationweek.com |
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What is hardware? - A Word Definition From the Webopedia Computer ... |
This page describes the term hardware and lists other pages on the Web where you can find additional information. |
www.webopedia.com |
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Google Directory - Computers > Hardware |
Hardware Central - http://www.hardwarecentral.com/ Computing-centric community providing vital information, support, tools and interaction facilities for ... |
www.google.com |
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Gifts: Unique Gifts & Gift Ideas at Restoration Hardware |
At Restoration Hardware, you'll explore an exceptional world of high quality unique gifts. Browse our products to find gift ideas & more at Restoration ... |
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HwB: The Hardware Book |
HwB provides you with circuits, pinouts, cable/adapter descriptions and other technical information. |
www.hardwarebook.net |
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Reg Hardware: Product News and Gadget Reviews from The Register |
More Gadgets Stuff. 5th December 2006 12:09 GMT. Author: Reg Hardware ... 27th November 2006 15:31 GMT. Author: The Hardware Widow ... |
www.reghardware.co.uk |
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red hat hardware compatibility lists |
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TrueValue.com |
Here's our tip to hang strands of lights with ease. Jeanenne & Jim Tucker Plantation True Value Hardware Richmond, TX ... |
www.truevalue.com |
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A complete illustrated Guide to the PC Hardware |
A complete illustrated Guide to the PC Hardware, Logic and Architecture. 500 easy-read articles about the modern PC. Understand the basic architecture of ... |
www.karbosguide.com |
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