How many computers do you have at home? How many of those are in use? Do you have a number of computer users as well? One in the study, couple in the kid’s room, one for the kitchen, if you have more than two computers and computer users in your home then you may try networking all the computers.

What are the benefits of home networking?

o If connected to a network, files can be sent back and forth by each computer.

o You can play music and video files from another computer.

o You can access the printer and the scanner that is connected to one computer from any other computer that is within the network.

o You can avail of the best features of the computer with highest configuration.

o If one computer in the network serves as a server, then you can store important files as back up in the server.

o You can share one Internet account to reap its benefits from different computers at the same time.

o Imagine playing Age of Empires or racing cars with real opponents at different computers in the house!

Yes, networking allows you to have multi-player games.

So how do you get home networking?

Networking can be done by using a wireless networking connection or by an Ethernet cable. All you need for Ethernet networking are: Read the rest of this entry »

Networks of the future will be worlds apart from today’s relatively mundane ones that simply carry packets from one end to the other. With the explosion of Peer-To-Peer (pc-to-pc direct data transfer), high definition video streaming and ubiquitous computing projects like Internet are looking at a scenario where even light bulbs and toasters will have an Internet Protocol (IP) address in affect making household compliances capable of accessing as well as being controlled by the internet. Why do these household appliances need to be connected to the internet or even be controlled through the internet?

For starters efficient usage of energy and centralized control, following that train of thought we are looking at a scenario where even light bulbs and toasters will have IP addresses and will be hooked onto the internet – networks as we understand them today may be overwhelmed by the load of data. This has naysayers saying how the extra data is going to clog the data pipes flooding them with data rendering them useless whereas others have grave security concerns about the usage of the data.

This said networks of the future will look different and will most probably work on different protocols. Such networks will not need full time chaperoning which is the job of many a systems administrator. These networks have been named adaptive networks; their job will be to provide a personalized experience for every user, with minimum maintenance. Adaptive networks will also seamlessly support different applications life Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), video conferencing, video surveillance, wireless applications computing on demand or any other new applications that are developed and used by us. Currently, most networks have a one-size fits all philosophy when it comes to applications and when newer demands start to rise on the network, it starts showing signs of a imminent breakdown. Security is also an important aspect, and future networks will be able to detect security attacks and take steps to fight back, very much like the immune system in our body. Read the rest of this entry »