A great place to start learning about networking your Mac computer is through the use of an Ethernet connection. As a physical presence in your home, the Ethernet cable connects your cable modem to your desktop computer or to your wireless router. In this instance, you will have enabled a small network that can be accessed by users who come into contact with your network and have the designated privileges to interact with it. Desktop, laptop, and mobile devices mostly connect to the Internet for browser capabilities but they do not necessarily connect to each other’s files, as supported by the use of a home network.

User-friendly shared storage is the next step in creating an Ethernet Shared Storage solution for you, but before we get there, the first step in Mac networking for beginners is to go back to the modem and work your way up from there.

Ethernet cables are the most commonplace solution for interconnecting computers within a network. Once the connections have been made, it is up to the drivers for each machine to run the requests and deliver the information from the data source. To best serve beginners, we will create a network with the Internet and the other machines in your home or small office.

Ethernet is an easily-integrated solution. It works extremely well between wireless output and optical delivery of information to servers a user wants access to. An Ethernet network involves the type of equipment you are likely already familiar with. When your computer was first taken out of the package and set up, chances are you worked with Ethernet then, so there is no need to stress when tackling this simple process.

Ethernet cables connect your computers to the network of the Internet. They are similar in appearance to telephone cables but are unique in their design. A “cable modem” (probably based on the DOCSIS Standard) receives and sends signals using the coax cable TV cable already in your home. This is the most common form of Internet delivery to homes today, but once the cable ends at the hole in the wall, you need to be able to get from the cable to using Internet on your computer using Ethernet technology.

Inside the home, your Mac will network with the Internet using an Ethernet connection to either a router, an Ethernet hub (a tool with several Ethernet ports which allows multiple devices to connect to the network or computer), or directly to the cable modem supplied to you by your ISP (Internet Service Provider). The router directs the network’s traffic by sending and receiving information packets. Add a network switch or a wireless router to your network using Ethernet and your network can now negotiate a large number of users working together at the same time on the same files.

A network in its simplest form is two computers hooked together using an Ethernet cable. It’s called a crossover network and they are the easiest networks to build. These networks can use standard “RJ45” connections or are using CAT6 and CAT5 Ethernet cables which are typical in networks like this. A Mac crossover network is the simplest form of Mac network; two machines sharing files and operating as closely together as possible. When you begin to add more machines and users, however, you need the help of Servers, multi-port Ethernet cards, and/or switches, to deliver high-speed data services reliably. This equipment is often recommended because it negotiates through sensitive data manipulation and file security to maintain a balanced network. Connecting computers to an Ethernet network will reduce congestion and network bottlenecks. This type of basic network is thee easiest choice because of price, value, and lowest up-front cost to implement.

About Small Tree

Designer of simple-to-install and affordable Mac-based networking and shared storage products, Small Tree is the premier multi-port Ethernet networking technology provider for OS X customers, enabling cost effective Ethernet shared storage technology. For more information about the company and its products, please 1-866-STC4MAC (1-866-782-4622 ), visit their website or follow Small Tree on Twitter.

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