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Windows Networking Project
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Abstract
Networking is the most praised feature of any operating system. No modern operating system and computing environment are imaginable without networking capabilities. Windows is the most popular operating system in the world and it present end users with all the essential features of networking. The report describes the networking feature present in modern Windows operating systems such as Windows 7 and Windows server.
Contents
TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction: PAGEREF _Toc1824544 \h 4
Discussion: PAGEREF _Toc1824545 \h 4
Libraries: PAGEREF _Toc1824546 \h 4
Network and Sharing: PAGEREF _Toc1824547 \h 5
Available Networks: PAGEREF _Toc1824548 \h 6
Network speed and feature enhancements: PAGEREF _Toc1824549 \h 7
Branch cache: PAGEREF _Toc1824550 \h 8
Hosted branch cache: PAGEREF _Toc1824551 \h 8
Distributed branch cache: PAGEREF _Toc1824552 \h 8
Virtualization: PAGEREF _Toc1824553 \h 9
Fixing network problems: PAGEREF _Toc1824554 \h 9
Quality of service enhancements: PAGEREF _Toc1824555 \h 10
Direct access to the corporate network: PAGEREF _Toc1824556 \h 11
Home group: PAGEREF _Toc1824557 \h 11
Windows connect: PAGEREF _Toc1824558 \h 12
IP and DNS configuration: PAGEREF _Toc1824559 \h 13
Conclusion: PAGEREF _Toc1824560 \h 14
Introduction:
Networking plays an essential role in modern computing. Networking has revolutionized computing since its invention. A network is defined as a setup of two or more computers capable of sharing data with each other. Modern networks are not only capable of sharing the data but computing resources as well. A simple example of the network can be a shared printer in a classroom. Each computer may be connected to the same printer taking the turn for their printing jobs. Modern networks can share processing power and storage capacities as well. All these networking features are configured and powered by the operating system installed on the machine ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"gnoI8VwK","properties":{"formattedCitation":"[1]","plainCitation":"[1]","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":41,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/666X2LY8"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/666X2LY8"],"itemData":{"id":41,"type":"article-journal","title":"A deep learning based DDoS detection system in software-defined networking (SDN)","container-title":"arXiv preprint arXiv:1611.07400","author":[{"family":"Niyaz","given":"Quamar"},{"family":"Sun","given":"Weiqing"},{"family":"Javaid","given":"Ahmad Y."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} [1]. The most popular operating system for desktop computers in the world is Windows operating system. Technology giant Microsoft, the developer of the Windows operating system provides two editions of the popular operating system. One is for client-side desktops and the other one for server-side computers known as Windows Server. The report provides a description of the available networking feature of the Windows 7 for client-side networking and Windows server for server-side networking.
Discussion:
Libraries:
As the basic purpose of any networking environment is to share data between multiple computers. The Internet is also a huge network of billions of smaller networks. One important feature of Windows 7 is known as libraries. This feature allows the users to share the data from multiple sources into a single folder. It can also be considered as a virtual folder. Previous versions of the operating system did not have the feature. Therefore, they contain several folders in the home directory of the user named documents, music, and photos. But with the inclusion of networked library feature in Windows 7 and Windows server all of the folders in the home directory of the users are renamed with the prefix personal. Such as personal documents, personal photos, etc. These prefixes are added to make a distinction between local files and networked files. Shared folders such as a folder of documents shared on the network will have a prefix of the public such as public documents. The feature can be accessed as start>libraries. The following figure shows the steps as well.
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Figure 1: libraries ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"qU9NTCo4","properties":{"formattedCitation":"[1]","plainCitation":"[1]","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":41,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/666X2LY8"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/666X2LY8"],"itemData":{"id":41,"type":"article-journal","title":"A deep learning based DDoS detection system in software-defined networking (SDN)","container-title":"arXiv preprint arXiv:1611.07400","author":[{"family":"Niyaz","given":"Quamar"},{"family":"Sun","given":"Weiqing"},{"family":"Javaid","given":"Ahmad Y."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} [1]
Network and Sharing:
Viewing networks active on a single computer was a difficult task in previous versions of the Windows. But with the release of Windows 7 and Windows server Microsoft has added an easy to navigate network and sharing center that allows novice users and network administrators to view which of the networks are currently active on a particular endpoint. It also provides a configuration option for the new network connection as well or to make a connection to an existing network. The following figure shows the Windows network and sharing center ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"tz4Xr0IR","properties":{"formattedCitation":"[2]","plainCitation":"[2]","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":42,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/YPBN2U2L"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/YPBN2U2L"],"itemData":{"id":42,"type":"paper-conference","title":"Facilitating consumption of online social networking services on mobile devices","container-title":"Proceedings of the 13th international conference on Ubiquitous computing","publisher":"ACM","page":"511-514","ISBN":"1-4503-0630-6","author":[{"family":"Cui","given":"Yanqing"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2011"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} [2]. The feature can be accessed by start > control panel > network and internet > network and sharing 276225166687500center.
Figure 2: Networking and Sharing center ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"hAL7okcL","properties":{"formattedCitation":"[2]","plainCitation":"[2]","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":42,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/YPBN2U2L"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/YPBN2U2L"],"itemData":{"id":42,"type":"paper-conference","title":"Facilitating consumption of online social networking services on mobile devices","container-title":"Proceedings of the 13th international conference on Ubiquitous computing","publisher":"ACM","page":"511-514","ISBN":"1-4503-0630-6","author":[{"family":"Cui","given":"Yanqing"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2011"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} [2]
Available Networks:
Connecting to wireless networks was a difficult task in previous versions of the operating system. But modern versions do not require navigation through the control panel. The feature allows a bird's eye view of the available wireless networks ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"rWabfMxo","properties":{"formattedCitation":"[3]","plainCitation":"[3]","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":43,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/6EGGRYKW"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/6EGGRYKW"],"itemData":{"id":43,"type":"paper-conference","title":"Visual learning tools for teaching/learning computer networks: Cisco networking academy and packet tracer","container-title":"2010 Sixth International Conference on Networking and Services","publisher":"IEEE","page":"351-355","ISBN":"1-4244-5928-1","author":[{"family":"Janitor","given":"Jozef"},{"family":"Jakab","given":"František"},{"family":"Kniewald","given":"Karol"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2010"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} [3]. The user can choose which network is to be connected and then providing authentication credentials the network will be connected. The feature can be accessed as a taskbar > networking icon. The following figure provides an overview of the 182880060007500feature.
Figure 3: VAN ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"iefWewfX","properties":{"formattedCitation":"[3]","plainCitation":"[3]","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":43,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/6EGGRYKW"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/6EGGRYKW"],"itemData":{"id":43,"type":"paper-conference","title":"Visual learning tools for teaching/learning computer networks: Cisco networking academy and packet tracer","container-title":"2010 Sixth International Conference on Networking and Services","publisher":"IEEE","page":"351-355","ISBN":"1-4244-5928-1","author":[{"family":"Janitor","given":"Jozef"},{"family":"Jakab","given":"František"},{"family":"Kniewald","given":"Karol"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2010"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} [3]
Network speed and feature enhancements:
Network administrators required to update the policies and install software updates on networked computers. They will not be able to install updates across the network if all the clients or endpoints connected to the network are not online. As with the modern architecture of the buildings, it is not all the time feasible to make wired connections. With previous versions of the operating system wired networks provide the capability of remote wake up but modern wireless networks were lacking the feature. Finally, the feature is available with Windows 7 and Windows Server that an administrator can wake up the computers even wirelessly connected to the network. The feature is known as the wake on local area network for wireless.
Branch cache:
Branch cache can be considered as the revolutionary feature that is added to the latest version of the operating system. Branch cache is a useful feature for information technology and network administrators in large-scale organizations. Branch cache comes into play when remote network users of the organization access the networked content remotely hosted on Windows 2008 R2 Server which is located in the head office of the organization; the file is cached in branch cache. For the second time when a user on remote shares having Windows 7 will access the file, the seek time will be much faster because the file will be present in the branch cache.
Hosted branch cache:
Branch cache can operate in two modes. The first mode of the branch cache is known as the hosted mode. In hosted mode, the caching server is a Windows server machine located at the head office of the organization. Once the file is accessed by any Windows 7 client remotely, the cache of the file is saved in the central server accelerating the seek times in subsequent requests.
Distributed branch cache:
As compared to the hosted branch cache in distributed branch cache no central server machine is required to save the data of the accessed file. Instead, the data is stored in the branch network of the same branch. Subsequent requests for the same file by other Windows 7 clients are then fulfilled immediately without traversing the path to the central office of the organization. While serving the file to any of the clients the cache complies with all of the organization policies. It is assured that the latest version of the file is served to the client whenever requested.
Virtualization:
Windows 7 provides improved virtualization features. It provides a virtualized desktop interface as well in addition to the multiple users on the same Windows machine. When the users are on virtualized thin clients connected to the Hyper-V server, there will be no difference in user experience as well. With previous versions of the operating system, there were a lot of limitations to the number of features available to thin clients or the virtualized machine users. Users are now able to experience windows aero desktop as well. Graphics will not be degraded as well. Virtualization enables the users to enjoy the full multimedia experience along with the standard display with aero capabilities. It is now possible for information technology administrators to deploy images on virtual clients as well. Peripheral devices connected to the actual machine are now better synchronized with the virtual machines. A printer connected to the host machine can be used for printing jobs without even installing the driver software on virtual machines. The feature is known as easy print.
Fixing network problems:
Developers of the operating system are committed to providing a more user-friendly experience to desktop users. The simple diagnostic feature of the previous versions of the operating system is replaced with a comprehensive troubleshooting feature. Connectivity issues are the most troublesome problems of any operating system. Most of the users are not aware of networking basics. Therefore, troubleshooting network issues can be time-consuming ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"YYFAgNV1","properties":{"formattedCitation":"[4]","plainCitation":"[4]","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":44,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/5QI5HW5I"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/5QI5HW5I"],"itemData":{"id":44,"type":"paper-conference","title":"DTNperf_2: a Performance Evaluation tool for Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking","container-title":"2009 International Conference on Ultra Modern Telecommunications & Workshops","publisher":"IEEE","page":"1-6","ISBN":"1-4244-3942-6","author":[{"family":"Caini","given":"Carlo"},{"family":"Cornice","given":"Piero"},{"family":"Firrincieli","given":"Rosario"},{"family":"Livini","given":"Marco"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2009"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} [4]. But the feature provides automated repair of common networking problems including but not limited to the driver and adapter related issues. The feature can be accessed as start > control panel > troubleshooting > network and internet. The following figure provides an overview of the feature.
1628775-4762500
Figure 4: Network troubleshooting ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"y5RWqOkU","properties":{"formattedCitation":"[4]","plainCitation":"[4]","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":44,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/5QI5HW5I"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/5QI5HW5I"],"itemData":{"id":44,"type":"paper-conference","title":"DTNperf_2: a Performance Evaluation tool for Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking","container-title":"2009 International Conference on Ultra Modern Telecommunications & Workshops","publisher":"IEEE","page":"1-6","ISBN":"1-4244-3942-6","author":[{"family":"Caini","given":"Carlo"},{"family":"Cornice","given":"Piero"},{"family":"Firrincieli","given":"Rosario"},{"family":"Livini","given":"Marco"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2009"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} [4]
Once launched the wizard will search for possible errors to network connections and then apply the possible repairs automatically.
Quality of service enhancements:
Quality of service enhancements are the features not visible to end users. They are mostly concerned with the network and system administrators of the organizations. End users only experience the difference when the service is not running because the service is aimed at providing the framework enhancement to the mission-critical application for enterprise networks. Many finance-related applications used by the large organizations need to connect to the web contact hosted on legacy servers which is not optimized by the normal network settings. Quality of service enhancements provides network administrators to prioritize network access for mission-critical applications to ensure business continuity.
Direct access to the corporate network:
Corporate environments are nowadays surrounded by a plethora of mobile devices. Unlike traditional networks, modern environments do not only contain legacy systems. Most of the organizations even rely on bring your own device policy. Although mobile computing has provided organizations and potential workers with unmatched flexibilities but at the same time management issues has been increased exponentially for network administrators. Most of the mobile devices such as laptops and other handheld devices of employees are configured to access the enterprise network using a virtual private network. Setting a virtual private network on mobile devices is not an easy task. It requires a strong command on networking principles.
However, beginning with the windows 7 and windows server, direct access the corporate network has been enabled for mobile devices as well. Now, no configuration of virtual private networks is required to access the internal networks of the organization. Information technology professionals and network administrators can schedule software updates for mobile devices. Whenever the devices are connected to the mobile network, the updates will be installed seamlessly without requiring manual configuration for any virtual private network.
Homegroup:
The capability of forming a home group of networked devices is another amazing networking feature of the modern operating systems such as Windows 7 and Windows server. The home group provides an easy way to group and interconnect home computer to make them capable of sharing files and printers. Home group is configured using a single password to group all of the computers; that is why the wizard eliminates the low level details from the users ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"yvwr2rI7","properties":{"formattedCitation":"[5]","plainCitation":"[5]","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":45,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/6RR9FE4Q"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/6RR9FE4Q"],"itemData":{"id":45,"type":"paper-conference","title":"Hybrid intelligence for semantics-enhanced networking operations","container-title":"The Twenty-Seventh International Flairs Conference","author":[{"family":"Mokhtar","given":"Bassem"},{"family":"Eltoweissy","given":"Mohamed"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2014"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} [5]. The process of creating and configuring is streamlined by the wizard. The feature can be accessed as start > control panel > network and internet > home group Following figure provides an overview of the 38100070485000feature.
Figure 5: Home group ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"p9rKheAY","properties":{"formattedCitation":"[5]","plainCitation":"[5]","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":45,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/6RR9FE4Q"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/6RR9FE4Q"],"itemData":{"id":45,"type":"paper-conference","title":"Hybrid intelligence for semantics-enhanced networking operations","container-title":"The Twenty-Seventh International Flairs Conference","author":[{"family":"Mokhtar","given":"Bassem"},{"family":"Eltoweissy","given":"Mohamed"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2014"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} [5]
Once the user initiates the wizard to create a home group, only basic configurations are to be made by the users. All of the backend details will be configured by the operating system. The administrator or the user has to select the type of files that home group computers are expected to share mutually.
Windows connect:
As the modern operating systems are providing more and more flexibility of configuration to network administrators, Windows 7 and Windows Server R2 2008 also come with a new feature known as Windows connect. It allows the users of windows 7 computer to configure another windows 7 computer connected to a wireless fidelity network router certified for Windows 7. It provides remote management of Windows 7 computer a handy process. The only drawback to the feature is that it can work with the wireless fidelity network routers certified by the tech giant Microsoft, for the Windows 7 operating system.
IP and DNS configuration:
Every device connected to the internet must have an internet protocol (IP) address. An IP address is used to identify the devices on the network. Each device having a separate IP address is necessary to identify the devices individually. While DHCP is there on wireless networks, the IP addresses are automatically assigned to connected devices. These are known as dynamic assignments of IP addresses. However, in corporate environments system, administrators may have to assign static IP addresses to all of the devices such as desktop computers.
With previous versions of the operating system, it was a difficult task to manually configure a device to use a static address. Static addresses were changed using command line networking tools. It was not an automated task since the release of Windows 7. Windows 7 along with many improvements to the networking section of the operating system provides an innovative and easy to configure way of changing the IP address of any Windows 7 computer ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"YpUDq062","properties":{"formattedCitation":"[6]","plainCitation":"[6]","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":46,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/VRH8UMA9"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/aGd3npCw/items/VRH8UMA9"],"itemData":{"id":46,"type":"book","title":"The social factor: Innovate, ignite, and win through mass collaboration and social networking","publisher":"Pearson Education","ISBN":"0-13-704302-3","author":[{"family":"Azua","given":"Maria"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2009"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} [6]. The feature is present in the properties of an active network connection on the Windows 7 machine. The feature can be accessed as start > network and internet > network and sharing center > active internet connection > properties > IPv4 configuration
The window opened by following the above-mentioned path will present the user with the option to change both IP version 4 and IP version 6 address. Users can manually enter the IP address and subnet mask of the network they want to connect with. The same window present the option to change the domain name resolution service address as well. Usually, domain name resolution service is provided by the internet service provider. However, some network administrators may need to change the address in an attempt to quickly resolve domain name resolution queries. Domain name resolution service translates web links into their corresponding IP addresses. Time taken to resolve a name affects the quality of service being offered by the enterprise network. Windows 7 has made it possible to change these settings without having prior knowledge of networking.
Conclusion:
Networking is an important aspect of modern-day computing. There may be no use of immense computing power without networking capabilities. Web services and storage networks have revolutionized many business processes as well. Modern operating systems provide many amazing Networking features as described in the report. These features will be further improved in the future to provide better networking experience to users and organizations.
References
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY [1]Q. Niyaz, W. Sun, and A. Y. Javaid, “A deep learning based DDoS detection system in software-defined networking (SDN),” ArXiv Prepr. ArXiv161107400, 2016.
[2]Y. Cui, “Facilitating consumption of online social networking services on mobile devices,” in Proceedings of the 13th international conference on Ubiquitous computing, 2011, pp. 511–514.
[3]J. Janitor, F. Jakab, and K. Kniewald, “Visual learning tools for teaching/learning computer networks: Cisco networking academy and packet tracer,” in 2010 Sixth International Conference on Networking and Services, 2010, pp. 351–355.
[4]C. Caini, P. Cornice, R. Firrincieli, and M. Livini, “DTNperf_2: a Performance Evaluation tool for Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking,” in 2009 International Conference on Ultra Modern Telecommunications & Workshops, 2009, pp. 1–6.
[5]B. Mokhtar and M. Eltoweissy, “Hybrid intelligence for semantics-enhanced networking operations,” in The Twenty-Seventh International Flairs Conference, 2014.
[6]M. Azua, The social factor: Innovate, ignite, and win through mass collaboration and social networking. Pearson Education, 2009.
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