Configure Network Connectivity in Software

Drawer QR Code 2d barcode in Software Configure Network Connectivity

you should probably be aware that Vista now includes native support for this latest version of an Internet Protocol numbering scheme IP version 6 assigns 128-bit addressees in much the same way that network cards have 128-bit Media Access Control (MAC) addresses If your computer has an IPv6 address assigned, it might look like this: fe80::5efe:19216824%19 You won t need to know anything about configuring IPv6 on the exam other than possibly knowing about autoconfiguration (that s the thing, by the way you don t configure IPv6), but it certainly won t hurt to recognize an IPv6 address when you see one MAC addresses, by the way, look like this: 00:11:50:31:db:36 See the difference One easy giveaway is that a MAC address starts with two hexadecimal values and then includes the colon (:) The IPv6 address begins with a group of four hexadecimal values before the first colon But even though Vista includes support for this relatively new networking protocol, you ll probably still end up using the older, 32-bit protocol version 4 to establish the vast majority of your network connections

32-bit There are 32 1s and 0s that comprise an IP version 4 address (A 128-bit address consists of, yes, 128 1s and 0s)

While the IP version 4 protocol might be familiar (though if this is your first crack at certification, it may not), you will definitely be using some new bells and whistles when establishing an IP version 4 connection If that has you rolling your eyes, saying, But I just got a good feel for the XP networking tools, I can empathize But I also think you ll agree that the new Vista Network and Sharing Center represents a more intuitive way of both setting up and managing network connections It s not just the Network and Sharing Center that helps you manage the network Here are some of the other new Vista networking tools and technologies:

Many of these tools and technologies are accessed through the Networking and Sharing Center Let s start examining each of these, beginning with the main focus of this test objective: the new Network and Sharing Center

The new Network and Sharing Center is designed to assist the home user in setting up and sharing their documents and printers securely from one easy location It s available on all Vista versions There are at least three ways to quickly open the Network and Sharing Center, including the following:

Choose Network in the Start Menu, and then click the Network and Sharing Center button located in Windows Explorer toolbar Double-click the Network and Sharing Center icon in the Control Panel Right-click the Network item on either the Start Menu or the Desktop (if applicable) and choose Properties Click the little network icon in the System Tray and then choose Network and Sharing Center from the context menu (A right-click will work as well)

No matter how you open it, you ll end up seeing the following dialog box:

What s here As with many Control Panel windows, you ll immediately notice an extensive Tasks list on the left-hand side Naturally, the ones in the Network and Sharing Center have to do with connecting to resources and sharing ones on the local machine Using these links in the Network and Sharing Center, tasks, users or administrators will be able to perform the following actions:

View Computers and Devices Connect to a network Set up a connection or network Get a visual representation of the network with a network map Change the Network Discovery options Change the network name, type, and even icon Manage network connections Diagnose and repair network connectivity issues

Choose the View Computers and Devices link, for example, and you will be taken back to a Vista Explorer view where you ll see a list of devices found by the Network Discovery mechanism As will be discussed in further detail in just a bit, this is a Link-Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) that runs natively within Vista

From this Vista Explorer page, you can then access other computers and resources the same way you access resources on your own system by clicking and double-clicking a graphical, hierarchical object and folder list