Networking For Dummies, 11th Edition

Chapter 27

Ten Networking Commandments

“Blessed is the network manager who walks not in the council of the ignorant, nor stands in the way of the oblivious, nor sits in the seat of the greenhorn, but delights in the Law of the Network and meditates on this Law day and night.”

—NETWORKS 1:1

And so it came to pass that these Ten Networking Commandments were handed down from generation to generation, to be worn as frontlets between the computer geeks’ eyes (taped on the bridges of their broken glasses) and written upon their doorposts with Sharpie markers. Obey these commandments, and it shall go well with you, with your users, and with your users’ users.

I. Thou Shalt Back Up Thy Hard Drive Religiously

Prayer is a good thing, and I heartily recommend it. But when it comes to protecting the data on your network, nothing beats a well-thought-out schedule of backups followed religiously.

II. Thou Shalt Protect Thy Network from Infidels

One of my favorite classic TV series is M*A*S*H. One of the recurring characters on that show was Colonel Flagg, who hid in trash cans looking for Communists. I don’t recommend that you actually become him, but on the other hand, you don’t want to ignore the possibility of getting zapped by a virus, your network being invaded by hackers, or your data being compromised by an unscrupulous user. Make sure that your Internet connection is properly secured with a firewall, and don’t allow any Internet access that circumvents your security.

To counter ...