Dave wrote:
>> All I have ever dealt with are network of less than 100 nodes, and
several were less than 10. That qualifies for small, yes? <<
No! (I'm rolling on the floor, laughing.) I'm talking about a two- or
three-computer home network, the very sort of thing that millions (?) of
home users have. Have you Linuxies ever heard of *HOME USERS*? <vbg>
>> That's nice in theory, but I've never seen such a setup. <<
Well, that's exactly what Steve Gibson advises and describes in great
detail at grc.com, so since that site is well-known by non-clueless
Windows users, I suspect there are plenty of home networks that are set
up exactly that way. Also, on our CompuServe Windows Support Forum and
other related forums, which have pretty heavy traffic and are open to
non-members through Web browsers, that's exactly what is recommended for
SOHO/home networks. I think you just haven't been looking in the right
places.<g> Oh yes--that's how my two-computer network has been set up
for a year and a half, which is how long I've had a network.
>> Most *small* networks are set up in one of two ways: all protocols
are installed and running (the Microsoft default -- NetBEUI, IPX/SPX,
and TCP/IP all at once) <<
Yes. They should send Bill Gates to jail for that.
>> or else someone has gone and removed everything except TCP/IP, so
that is the only protocol being used. <<
Must have been a network administrator.<g> A "regular user" wouldn't
have any idea what to remove. Usually some so-called tech at a store
might tell them to use TCP/IP. These folks are very trusting of store
personnel.
>> If I see all protocols in use, I will cut out all but TCP/IP if I
can, because running multiple protocols is extremely inefficient on a
PC, and it hurts overall network performance. Also, NetBEUI is a very
"chatty" protocol, in that hosts are constantly announcing themselves to
the network, and so even on a small network, performance can suffer
because of heavy network traffic. <<
Don't get out much to home networks, do you? There is no "network
performance" to hurt in a home network. What hurts performance is how
fast your network card and hub are. Not much, though. Even 10 Base T is
plenty fast for most home network use. Mine is 10/100 Base T and I can
scarcely tell the difference between copying files on the local hard
drive and copying them across the network. You don't get "heavy network
traffic" on a two- or three-computer home network. Most of the time,
there isn't any traffic at all.
>> You will be amazed, probably depressed, at the number of open hosts
you find. <<
My Windows computer has no open ports. Would the same were true of my
Linux computer. I'm trying to fix that, but being neither a network
genius nor competent in Linux, I am having quite a struggle. Linux isn't
helping me out.
>> Again, I have never seen Windows Scriopting Host disabled, *except*
on the networks I have administered myself. Most people just don't know
about this kind of stuff, even though it is extremely easy to do. <<
It's been disabled on my computers for some years now. Again, on the
CompuServe forums I participate in, we've told people numerous times how
to do this. I agree, "most" people don't know about this, but that's
because they aren't interested in the workings of their system, or they
don't realize the hazards of WSH, or they don't know where or what to
ask. Since WSH is of no use to home users (who are also unlikely to know
what WSH does or that they don't need it or even that it exists),
Microsoft *should* have WSH disabled by default and leave it up to the
user to decide whether to enable it. I did notice that Win 98SE makes
WSH optional on a custom install, which is the only kind I ever do. I
suspect it's probably enabled in a typical install. Shame on them!
>> And even their documentation stinks -- their own help files only show
you enough to set up a basic network running all three protocols! It
takes outside reading and/or experience to learn the "right" way of
doing things. <<
I never looked at their help files when I was setting up the network.
Gibson's site at grc.com is the place to go for information about
setting up the network protocols safely--detailed yet understandable,
and step by step.
--Judy Miner
