Mekelle University Faculty of Business & Economics

Computer Science Department

ICT132: Networks and Digital Communications

Handout 9 Lab Sessions

1. Introduction

This handout provides a brief guide to the more practical aspects

of computer networking. Because there are many different types
of network hardware and software it is not possible to cover the
steps involved in implementing every type of network.
single network operating system, Windows 2000 Server. The
FBE computer science department is implemented using both of
these.

2. Making UTP/STP cabling

To make UTP/STP you need three pieces of equipment: some

UTP/STP cabling; some RJ45 connectors; and an RJ45 crimper.
The RJ45 crimper is a tool used for fixing the connector to the
cable.

The procedure for adding an RJ45 connector to UTP/STP

cabling is shown in Figure 1. After the cabling is cut to the
desired length, around 1 cm of the outer cover of the cable must
be stripped away using the stripper on the RJ45 crimper,
exposing the twisted pairs of wires inside (Figure 1a). The type
of UTP/STP cabling used for most computer networks is called
category 5. A category 5 UTP/STP cable contains 4 twisted
pairs of copper wire, making eight wires in all. These 8 wires
are colour coded, and must be inserted into the RJ45 connector
in the correct order. (See Figure 1b).

There are two ways of making UTP/STP cables: the straight-

through cable that is used to connect a computer to a hub or
switch, and a crossover cable. Crossover cables are only used
when connecting two computers directly together, and for hub-
to-hub connections when no crossover port (uplink) is available
on the hub. Figure 2 shows how the different pins on the RJ45
connector should be connected for each of the two types. To
attach the RJ45 connector to the cable arrange them in the
correct order, and then slide them carefully into the connector
(Figure 1c). After inserting the wires use the RJ45 crimper to
crimp the connector, i.e. fix it securely to the cable (Figure 1d).
Wire both ends of the cable in the same manner.

For example, to make a straight-through cable it does not matter

which order you arrange the colour-codes wires in, so long as
the order is the same at both ends of the cable. For a crossover
cable, you can also arrange the wires in any order at one end of
the cable. At the other end arrange them so that pins 1 and 3 are
swapped over, and pins 2 and 6 are swapped over.
 (a) (b)

(c) (d)
 Figure 1 Adding an RJ45 connector to Category 5 STP
cable

Figure 2 Adding RJ45 connectors to Category 5 UTP/STP

cable to make straight-through and crossover cables
3. Windows 2000 Server

Refer to Handout 7 (Network Operating Systems) for

descriptions of the features of Windows 2000 Server that are
dealt with below. This handout only deals with the practical
aspects, e.g. how to configure and administer these features.

3.1 Active Directory

If you log on to a computer running Windows 2000 Server, you

can access the Active Directory window by clicking on the Start
menu, then Programs, Administrative Tools, and then Active
Directory Users and Computers.
 Figure 3 The Active Directory window

Figure 3 shows a screenshot of the Active Directory Users and

Computers window. Notice that the window is split into 2
panels (similar to Windows Explorer). The left panel shows a
number of folders (called Organisational Units), each of which
can contain information about users or computers that have
permission to access the domain. By selecting an organisational
unit in the left panel its contents are displayed in the right panel.
For example, Figure 3 shows the contents of the Computers
organisational unit, namely all computers joined to the FBE
computer science department domain.

You can easily create new organisational units. Just right-click

on the unit you want the new unit to be inside of, and select New
then Organisational Unit. When you first create a Windows
2000 domain you will probably want to create a number of new
organisational units to store user accounts. In Figure 3, three
new organisational units have been created to store user
accounts: CS Students, FBE Staff and FBE Students. It is useful
to place different types of user into different folders as they can
easily be assigned different access rights. All of the other units
in Figure 3 are built-in, i.e. they are needed by the operating
system and are already created after you install Windows 2000
Server.

3.1.1 Creating a new user account

You can create a new account for a network user from within
the Active Directory Users and Computers window, by
following these steps (see Figure 4):
i. In the left panel, click once on the organisational unit that
you want to add the user to (for example, FBE Staff for
staff accounts).
ii. Select New>User from the Action menu.
iii. Enter the new users full name and a User ID (the User ID
should be a unique identifier for the user).
iv. Enter a Password for the User ID.
v. Click on Next, then Finish.
 Figure 4 Creating a new user account

3.1.2 Assigning access rights/restrictions to a group of users

Access rights and restrictions can be easily assigned to a group

of users by using group policies. A policy is simply a set of
rights and restrictions: it specifies what a user can and cannot do
when they are logged in the network. A group policy is a policy
that applies to a group of users (see Figure 5).
i. Right-click on the organisational unit that contains the
users, and choose Properties.
ii. Click on the Group Policy tab at the top of the resulting
window.
iii. To create a new group policy, click on the New button. To
edit an existing policy, select the policy and click on Edit.
The group policy window contains a wide range of different
settings that you can choose to enable, disable, or have not
configured. For example, in Figure 5 it is possible to disable the
control panel, hide specified items or only show specified items.
 Figure 5 Using group policies to assign user account
rights/restrictions

3.2 Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

You can access the DHCP window by clicking on the Start

menu, then Programs, Administrative Tools, and then DHCP.
Figure 6 shows the DHCP window displaying a list of addresses
currently leased to client computers. Notice the hierarchy
displayed in the left panel: the DHCP server (called fbe-server
with an IP address of 192.168.0.1) contains a scope. A scope
refers to the settings used to configure DHCP: the scope
contains:
Address pool: the set of IP addresses that DHCP is
allowed to assign to client computers
Address leases: the IP addresses that have already
been assigned, together with the corresponding machine
names
 Reservations: any IP addresses in the pool that should
not be assigned, i.e. they are reserved for a particular
computer
Scope options: some other information that is also
given out to client computers when they request an IP
address (mostly related to the location of DNS servers
on the network)

Before you can use DHCP on your network, you must first
configure these 4 settings. After you have done this, you need to
authorise the DHCP server to respond to requests (right-click on
the server in the left panel and choose Authorise server).

Figure 6 The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

window

3.3 Domain Name Service

In Windows 2000 Server you can access the DNS window by

clicking on the Start menu, then Programs, Administrative
Tools, and then DNS. Figure 7 shows the DNS window
displaying a list of IP addresses and computer names for the
computer science department network.

Figure 7 The Domain Name Service window

4. Network troubleshooting

If a network ceases functioning, or if network performance is

seriously affected, there are a large number of possible reasons.
Although some network troubleshooting can be quite complex
and involve quite detailed knowledge, it is surprising how many
problems can be fixed by simply checking a number of simple
things.

First, check that all of the network cables are plugged in and the
hubs/switches are operating properly. Most hubs or switches
will have a light indicating whether or not each connection is
active. If there is a problem, make sure every cable is plugged
securely in to the hub. If the problem persists, try rebooting the
hub. Next, check that all hardware on the server and any
affected client computer is operating OK. You can check this by
looking at the device manager (in Windows 2000, right-click on
My Computer and choose Properties, select the Hardware tab,
then click on Device Manager). This lists all hardware devices
in the computer. If any of them has a problem it will be
indicated by a yellow exclamation mark (a warning) or a red
cross (an error). If there is a problem, double-click on the device
and then click on Troubleshoot. Figure 8 shows the Device
Manager window for the FBE-SERVER computer there are
currently two warnings, for the Patriot Pro II UPS and the PCI
Device.

Figure 8 The Device Manager

4.1 Software troubleshooting tools

There are also a number of software tools that you can use to
help track down the problem. Three of the most useful are
described below.

4.1.1 Ping
To test if your network connection is complete from the server
to the workstation, you can use a simple utility, the Packet
Internet Groper, better known as ping. The ping utility works by
sending a message to a remote computer. If the remote computer
receives the message, it responds with a reply message (see
Figure 9). The reply consists of the remote workstation's IP
address, the number of bytes in the message, how long it took to
reply - given in milliseconds (ms) - and the length of time-to-
live (TTL) in seconds. If you receive back the message "Request
timed out," this means that the remote workstation did not
respond before the TTL time expired. This might be the result of
heavy network traffic or it might indicate a physical
disconnection in the path to the remote workstation. An example
of using the ping utility to check the connection to a computer
called AWASA is shown in Figure 10.

4.1.2 Tracert

Another utility that documents network performance is called

tracert. While the ping utility merely lets us know that the
connection from A to B is complete, tracert informs us of the
route and number of hops the packet of data took to arrive at its
destination. An example of using the tracert utility to trace the
route to a computer called AWASA is shown in Figure 10.

Figure 9 The ping utility

4.1.3 Ipconfig

Another useful software troubleshooting tool is ipconfig. This

diagnostic command displays all current TCP/IP network-
configuration values. This command is useful on systems
running DHCP, allowing users to determine which TCP/IP
configuration values have been configured by DHCP.

An example of using the ipconfig utility is shown in Figure 10.

The output lists the current IP address of the computer, the
subnet mask, and the default gateway. The subnet mask
indicates which class of network the computer is a part of.
Because the first three numbers in the subnet mask are 255 this
means that the computer is on a class C network (i.e. the first 24
bits of the IP address are fixed). If this computer needs to send a
packet of data to a computer outside of this subnet, it must first
send it to the default gateway. The default gateway is a
computer on the subnet that is responsible for forwarding
packets to outside addresses.

Figure 10 The ping, tracert and ipconfig utilities

Summary of Key Points

When attaching RJ45 connectors to UTP/STP cabling, two

types of cable can be produced: a straight-through cable
and a crossover cable.
The straight-through cable is used for connecting a
computers NIC to a hub or a switch
The crossover cable is used for direct connections between
computers, or for direct connections between hubs where
there is no crossover port (or uplink) available on the hub
Ping, tracert and ipconfig are three common software
troubleshooting utilities.
Notes prepared by: FBE Computer Science Department.

Sources: Mastering Windows 2000 Server, Minasi et al