When you set up your computer, you
give it a name. This friendly name, or hostname, is what you see when
you browse a network. However, a hostname isn’t what a network uses to
send traffic back and forth between systems. Networks use network
addresses—they are the recognized endpoints where traffic is sent or
received.
One computer can have multiple network
connections, each connected through a single piece of hardware called a
network adapter (or network interface card). A network adapter contains
a transceiver that is given a unique machine address. Ethernet cards
and Wi-Fi adapters all have unique MAC (media access control) addresses
assigned to them by the hardware manufacturer. We assign networking
addresses to individual MAC addresses as part of our network setup,
either automatically or manually.
For TCP/IP networking, which is the dominant
networking protocol in use today, an IP address and subnet type is
given to each network interface. To configure a network connection, you
also have to assign an address for the system that is the “gateway” to
outside networks. Since we use friendly names, DNS maps the friendly
names to IP addresses, and vice versa, so that systems can be located.
So you also have to specify which DNS servers perform name resolution
for your network interface so that your connection can find and be
recognized by other endpoints on a network.
Network services have been developed to
automatically supply this information so that network connections can
be automatically configured as dynamic assignments.
On local Microsoft
networks, other services provide name resolution; they are built into
Windows 8 and do not need to be configured.
To view your current network connection
• On the Desktop, move your mouse cursor over the Network icon in the Notification area .
The Network icon in the Notification area shows the currently connected network in its tooltip.
• Tap or click the Network icon to open the Networks bar .
The Networks bar when you connect with a wireless (Wi-Fi) adapter (left) and with an Ethernet adapter (right)
• Press Ctrl+C or swipe from the right
edge to open the Charms bar. Tap or click the Settings charm, and then
tap or click the Network icon in the Settings bar to view the Networks bar .
The Network icon in the Settings bar
The Networks bar shows the available wired or
wireless networks for a computer. When you right-click the connection
and select the Turn Sharing On Or Off command from the pop-up menu, the
Sharing dialog box opens, which allows you to view and be viewed by
other network devices.
Tip
You can check your network devices using Command Prompt. To open Command Prompt, open the Run dialog box, type cmd, and press Enter. If you enter ipconfig, Windows 8 will list all of your network adapters and their properties. Type ipconfig /release to release dynamically assigned addresses and ipconfig /renew to get a new address. Type ipconfig /? for help with this command. Note that the spaces in ipconfig/release and ipconfig/renew and ipconfig/? are intentional.
