Datasheet

Book IX
Chapter 1
Those Pesky
Network Things
You Need to Know
Organizing Networks
675
Administrator accounts on client computers can make major changes to the
client PC in question, but the real action is on the server. If you really want
to change things around, you need an administrator account on the server.
That’s the seat of power in the client/server milieu.
In a client/server network, the network’s Internet connection is (almost)
always controlled through the server, using the following:
✦ Windows Proxy Server: A proxy server is a program that allows all the
people on a network to share one Internet connection and, at the same
time, almost always acts as a
firewall. A server firewall monitors data as
it passes between your network and the Internet, acting as a security
barrier.
✦ Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server: This is a souped-
up, extra-charge proxy server.
✦ Other proxy servers: Many proxy servers are made by companies other
than Microsoft. Ositis Software’s WinProxy, for example, is used in many
companies to protect their client/server networks. (See
www.winproxy.
com
. WinProxy works on peer-to-peer networks, too.)
Introducing peer-to-peer networks
On the other side of the networking fence sits the undisciplined, rag-tag,
scruffy lot involved in peer-to-peer computing. In a peer-to-peer environ-
ment, all computers are created equal, and security takes a backseat to flexi-
bility. I like peer-to-peer networks (see Figure 1-2). Could you tell?
Network hub
In the home office
In the living room In Billy's bedroom
Figure 1-2:
Peer-to-peer
networks
don’t rely
on a single
super PC.
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