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by Shay Woodard,Nick Gattuccio and Marshall Brain

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The following article is excerpted from Chapter Two, "Networking Basics," of the book Microsoft Technology: Networking, Concepts, Tools, by Woordard, Gattuccio and Brain (Copyright © 1999 by Prentice Hall PTR, Prentice-Hall, Inc.) Reprinted by permission.

A network is two things - technology and business. While the first of these is quite obvious, network technology is sometimes so overwhelming to non-technical managers that they lose sight of its basic role - to perform as a business tool. This is a classic case of losing the forest for the trees. While network technology is very important, its complexity should not obscure its role as a business tool.

In this chapter, our goal is twofold. First, we hope to demystify network technology by painting a detailed picture of its key pieces and defining the technology's key vocabulary. While a great deal of technology is involved, it all comes together in a straightforward way. Understanding the vocabulary clarifies nine-tenths of the technology. In Chapter One we introduced network technology in terms of the network services it provides. While this is the plan we'll follow throughout the book, it is nevertheless important to understand network technology nuts and bolts. Our goal in this chapter, then, is to address network technology at its most fundamental layer - the wires, data, and connections.

This chapter's second goal is to highlight the central business issues that fall under the rubric of managing technology. In few other areas of business planning is there greater risk of technical systems turning the tables on managers and creating a situation where the technology dominates business. The two - technology and business - work hand-in-glove because a poorly implemented network creates limitations and constraints that limit business planning options.

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