"Guerrilla Networking": Building Local Area Networks

“Guerrilla Networking”:Building Local Area Networks

Copyright 2001 by WiderNet Project

Last time we talked about making the connections between single computers

and the larger Internet, this time we focus on wiring similar computers

together as peers.

WAN = Wide Area NetworkLAN = Local Area Network

But first...

a brief aside (rant and rave)

Guerrilla Networking

• Computers were designed to be calculators, to crunch numbers swiftly

• Humans being humans, we quickly found ways to use them to communicate (our #1 priority...)

• WWW, email, video conferencing, desktop publishing, word processors, all polished tools for communicating


• The form of computer networks are neither accidental nor planned

• Organic• The wires -- like a root of a tree, the

growth of a mold, or the course of a river -- follow a compelling intention and operate within very real physical constraints


• A bird’s eye view of any network would demonstrate two things: who has the money to build networks and who is compelled to communicate with who

• Resource sharing (printers, modems, etc.) is important, but involves only a few nodes per network


• “Planned” networks usually wind up being drastically different than originally conceived

• Larger networks are constrained by their inherent complexity, thus limiting their ability to deliver individualized and cutting-edge services on demand


• Inevitably, humans take matters into their owns hands

• Those with the money and desire grab the technology and bend it to their wills

• Technological savvy is rarely a limiting factor -- it’s learned on the job

• The birth of a nerd


• Networking technology has grown simpler over the last ten years and promises to become even more so

• Much of what used to take trained technicians and specialized equipment to install and maintain is now plug-and-play

• The industry is now focusing on networking the “home” computer. Making things simpler will be key


• Just a couple years ago, one had to install special software on a computer to make it capable of communicating over a network

• Now all modern operating system software comes with strong networking code built-in (Mac OS9, Windows95, 98, NT, 2000, XP)

• 100Base-T connections now standard on many new computers

Guerrilla Networking the bottom line

• Networking a computer costs as little as N2,000 per computer

• Plug-and-play technology makes it simple to set up a network

• Users more free than ever before to set up networks that work the way they do

• Growing more organic every day

LANs -- Sharing resources

• Printers• Facsimile devices• Modems• WAN connections (Internet)• Storage devices (Disks, tape drives, etc.)• Databases, documents, etc.

The components of a LAN

• Network card

• Wire

• Concentrator

A “Star” LAN

All devices connected to a

hub which manages the

network

Network HUB

Can manage from 6 to 100’s of networked devices.

Range in price from N7,500 to N2,000,000

Can be managed from a desktop with SNMP

File Server Networks

• All the nodes share one large hard drive on central server(s)

Peer-to-peer Networks

• All the nodes act as servers and clients, sharing their resources

Mixed Networks

• Today it is getting hard to distinguish• Peer-to-peer and file servers employed on

the same wire• Different protocols allow one to be on

many networks simultaneously

A Simple Small Workgroup LAN

• Six network cards, a concentrator, some wire


• Six network cards @ N2,000 = N12,000• Six port 10Base-T concentrator = N7,500• 120 ft. wire @ N50 a foot = $6,000• Total = N25,500


• Once the LAN is established, anything that is attached becomes sharable:– Scanner (N40,000)– Printer (N18,000 - N80,000)– Tape backup (N15,000 - N120,000)– WAN connection (N1,000/month to ???)

• Great economy is realized by not buying redundant hardware

Last Slide

The End

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"Guerrilla Networking": Building Local Area Networks