Network administrators need to know how to set up and manage multiple network interfaces.

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As more networks are rolled out and more computers are shipped with multiple connection methods, the need for a workstation to participate in more than one network is becoming more common. Working with multiple adapters in Microsoft Windows XP can be a little intimidating at first, but it gets easier once you get into it.

This blog post is also available in PDF format in a TechRepublic download.

There are three scenarios that would require you to use more than one network interface on a machine. In the first, you’re physically connected to two separate networks; this would obviously require multiple network adapters (Figure A).

Figure A

A single PC connected to two networks with separate adapters

In the second, you have two separate IP networks at the office and need to be able to access both of them (Figure B).

Figure B

A single PC connected to two networks with one adapter

In the third, you have a single network adapter but are connected to multiple networks (Figure C). For example, you could have a remote small office network with a DHCP-assigned RFC 1918 address, but you would also need to connect to your network at the main office via a VPN connection. In any case, you’d need to set up XP to recognize any and all of the networks that you participate in.

Figure C

A single PC connected to two networks with one adapter but two connections

The language

You can reduce possible confusion by keeping a couple of terms in mind while reading this article. An adapter is a piece of hardware that you install in your system or a piece of software that you install under XP that emulates a network adapter, such as the loopback network adapter. Connection describes an individual connection to a network. Depending on how your network is configured, this can include multiple addresses. I’ll explain more about this later.

My configuration

I’m using a laptop with differing types of network adapters and connections so that I can show you a wide range of options. I have two physical network adapters installed — an 11-Mbps wireless adapter and a fixed 10/100 jack on the side of the laptop. I also have a modem with a dial-up connection that I use when I’m on the road. Other than that, I have a whole host of virtual adapters and connections that I will also explain.

Showing them all

In Windows XP, all network connections — dial-up, LAN, VPN, or FireWire (IEEE 1394) are shown in the Networking control panel. (Figure D)

Figure D

A listing of all the Windows XP network connections

You can see in Figure D that there are four categories of network interfaces under Windows XP. Dial-up connections are just that — connections to a dial-up ISP. I have only one, and I use it when I can’t connect to anything faster. Next on the list are my LAN or high-speed Internet connections. I have two adapters: an Intel 10/100-Mbps adapter and an 11-Mbps 802.11b D-Link wireless Ethernet adapter.

Next are Network Bridge adapters, which include my FireWire and VMware bridge network connections. Network Bridge connections work a little differently from other connections because they’re assigned addresses from a pool reserved by the actual bridge adapter, which is a piece of software. Often, bridge connections are used to communicate between the host (the Windows XP machine) and the remote end — a device such as a digital video camera or a certain kind of VMware session.

Finally, my VPN connections are listed. I almost always have one connection open to my work network when I’m working at home, and I keep Outlook running over it. (I’ve blacked out the name and IP address of the connection for security reasons.) The last connection is TechRepublic Tunneling Test, which I was using for testing.

Two physical connections

I’ll first go over installing two separate network adapters in a Windows XP machine because they’re the easiest to understand and troubleshoot. This connection method corresponds to Figure A.

In this scenario, there is a physical adapter for each individual connection on the machine. On the laptop that I’m using to write this article, these adapters could be considered the two physical jacks — the wireless adapter and the one on the side of the machine.

I’ve configured the Intel adapter, which is wired directly to my home network, to use DHCP for its address and have provided a static address for the wireless adapter to use. However, I haven’t provided the wireless adapter with a default gateway. Providing multiple default gateways to a Windows 2000 or XP machine can seriously confuse network issues, because the machine won’t know which one is the real default gateway.

To see IP addressing information, I issue the command ipconfig /all at the command line. Listing A shows the results for the two physical network adapters in my machine.

Listing A — Windows IP Configuration

This listing shows me the IP address, network mask, gateway, and almost all other information related to networking that I would need. Notice that the names of the connections correspond to the names in Figure D. I’m also told whether this is a DHCP-assigned address.

When I attempt to ping an address on either network, Windows XP will use the appropriate interface. When you try to traverse beyond the routers that connect the workstation to these networks, things become a little trickier. After the router, your Windows workstation has no way to determine what lies beyond. It only knows about what is directly connected to it, unless you provide it with static routes or install the RIP Listener Service. For this reason, one of your connections must include a default gateway. This is the device that your Windows XP workstation will consider its “next hop” on the network when you attempt to access services that are beyond your directly connected networks.

To modify an address on an adapter, bring up a list of network connections by selecting Start | Control Panel | Network Connections. If you’re using Windows XP’s default Category View, browse to Start | Control Panel | Network And Internet Connections | Network Connections.

Note: I will not be using Category View. I find it less efficient than the classic view of the Control Panel.

Next, double-click the connection you wish to work with and click the Properties button to bring up the information related to that adapter. This screen will look similar to the one shown in Figure E.

Figure E

Adapter information

To bring up the TCP/IP properties, click TCP/IP and then click the Properties button. You will see a screen similar to the one shown in Figure F.

Figure F

TCP/IP properties

To change the TCP/IP address, enter the information you need and click OK.

Single NIC, multiple networks

Next on the list of complexity is connecting a workstation to two logically separate but physically connected networks, as shown in Figure B. This setup might occur, for example, if (1) you have separate departments using separate address spaces, (2) certain users need to be able to connect to services offered by both departments, and (3) everything is connected via switches with routers only at the edge of the network. This setup may also be done for security reasons, particularly when sensitive information is put on the network address space that isn’t connected to the router that goes out to the Internet.

In any case, you’d propecia insomnia need to be able to get workstations attached to both networks, which is actually a very easy task. First, decide which connection will have the default gateway. For the same reasons I mentioned earlier, using more than one gateway can be problematic. I always use the router with the connection out to the Internet as the default gateway because it lets me avoid adding routes to every host on the Internet — that wouldn’t be much fun.

Second, the address for the network connected to the Internet router must be assigned. When you assign multiple addresses to a NIC, they all must use static addressing. For my example, I’m going to use my wireless adapter and work with the IP addressing. I’ll then statically assign the second address.

To accomplish this, I’ll use a single network adapter with multiple network addresses. (You may have heard the terms “multihoming” or “binding multiple addresses” associated with this action.) To perform the action, bring up the TCP/IP properties for the network adapter that you wish to work with. On my system, the screen shown in Figure G shows my current configuration, with a single address assigned to the network adapter.

Figure G

Current configuration of my wireless adapter

To add an address, click the Advanced button, which will bring up a second properties screen, as shown in Figure H.

Figure H

Advanced TCP/IP properties

You need to work with three areas. The first is the IP Addresses section, which is where you’ll add the second IP address. You can see in Figure H that there is already one address assigned. The second section lists the default gateways currently defined on the machine. You can see that a single gateway is already defined. Finally, the network metrics section defines the order in which network information will be used. This information can be used to alleviate problems with multiple default gateways, but it isn’t always 100 percent reliable.

Adding a second address

To add the second address, click the Add button in the IP Addresses section of the window. You’ll be presented with a window that asks for the IP address and subnet mask for the new address, as shown in Figure I.

Figure I

Adding a second IP address

That’s all you need to begin accessing resources on the second network. Listing B shows the network parameters from an ipconfig /all command for this adapter. Notice that there are two entries for IP address now listed. This shows that Windows XP can communicate with both the 10.10.10 and the 10.10.11 networks over this single physical network connection.

Listing B

Other types of connections

Windows XP can also work with other types of connections, such as VPN adapters, as evidenced by Figure D. In essence, these types of connections make use of one of the actual physical connections but show up as a separate, virtual connection, as shown in Figure C.

In the example shown in Figure D, a VPN connection was established over the WAN Miniport (PPTP) to a specific IP address. The WAN Miniport is a virtual port established in XP for just this purpose. The ipconfig /all listing for this connection is visible in Listing C. The IP addressing information in Listing C is DHCP assigned from the VPN server in my office, as are the remaining parameters, such as DNS servers and WINS information. Other than the fact that it is a software adapter and uses a real adapter to do its work, the VPN adapter works like the other adapters I have shown you.

System tray tip

Finally, I find it useful to enable icons in the system tray to get at-a-glance information about my network connections without having to open the Networking control panel (Figure J).

Figure J

Network information in the system tray

This information is more useful if you rename the network connections with something more descriptive than Local Network Connection. You can enable a system tray icon for any adapter — hardware- or software-based — by selecting the Show Icon In Notification Area When Connected check box on the properties page for the adapter.

If you query your Access database to generate a mailing list, but the list contains duplicate names and addresses, this helpful trick will save you some time. See how tweaking the query properties can ensure a list with unique entries.

You’ll get more mileage out your advertising dollar if you eliminate duplicate mailings to the same address. One way to do this is to use query properties to remove duplicates from your mailing lists.

For example, say you just performed a query on your Orders database to obtain the names and addresses of all customers whose order balance is typically below $100. You would like to send them a special coupon for new orders totaling more than $100. A quick glance at the data indicates that there are a number of duplicates in the list. (There is more than one order per customer.)

Rather than spend time removing the duplicates one by one, rerun the query with the Unique Values property set to Yes. Follow these steps:

Figure A

1. Click in the Unique Values property box and select Yes (Figure B).

Figure B

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1. Clear the Show check box under the Balance field used as the criterion for the query.
2. Click Run.

The query should now list only one record for each customer. Be sure to clear the Show check box under any criteria fields; otherwise, it will override the Unique Values property setting.

I tend to think of styles in terms of entire documents, or even sections or paragraphs. Applying formats to individual words or phrases is often easier accomplished manually, usually as an afterthought, but only if you’re applying the formats just once.

Repeating the manual process is inefficient. Fortunately, there’s a shortcut — the Ctrl + Y keystroke combination. This shortcut remembers the last set of formats applied. By set, I mean multiple formats applied to a selection. There are two limitations with this shortcut:

To use the Ctrl + Y shortcut to quickly apply multiple formats, do the following:

1. Select the first word or phrase.
2. Choose Font from the Format menu.
3. In the Font dialog box, select the appropriate formats.
4. Click OK to close the dialog box and return to the document, where Word will have applied the specific formats to the previously selected text (step 1).
5. Highlight the next word or phrase that you want to format and press  Ctrl propecia health insurance + Y to apply the same formats chosen previously (step 3).
6. Repeat step 5 until you’re done applying that particular set of formats.

This shortcut is most useful when you’re in a position to apply multiple formats to an entire document — usually after you’ve created the document and you’re reviewing it.

Inserting addresses in a Word document doesn’t have to be a chore. Using Smart Tags, you can automatically pull in the address of anyone in your Outlook contact list.

Do you find yourself constantly retyping your contacts’ addresses in your documents? Or do you often need to search your Outlook address book for an address and then have to copy and paste it from there? Let Word’s Smart tags do the work for you. Follow these steps:

Figure A

Word automatically searches your Outlook address book and adds the client’s address to your document.

If the Insert Address option does not appear on the Smart Tag shortcut menu, click Smart Tag Options. This will bring up the Smart Tag Options menu. Click the Person Name (Outlook E-mail Recipients) button and then propecia hairline click the Recheck document button (Figure B).

Figure B

Your network administrators have to be able to incorporate Windows, Apple, and Linux workstations.

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Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Macs are likely to be on your network. Fortunately, advances within Apple’s OS X operating system simplify connecting Windows XP and Macs on the same network. Windows administrators can follow these steps to add Macs to Windows workgroups.

This blog post is also available in the PDF format in a TechRepublic download.

Verify the PC side

After confirming the Windows and Mac systems all have Ethernet connections and required switches or wireless connectivity, begin by verifying the Windows workgroup name (Figure A):

Figure A

Verify the Windows workgroup name by right-clicking My Computer, selecting Properties, and clicking the Computer Name tab.

Next, confirm the Windows workgroup is sharing the appropriate files within the workgroup:

1. Click Start.
2. Double-click My Computer.
3. Verify the appropriate folders are shared (look for the folder held by a blue hand icon (Figure B), thereby indicating the resource is being shared).

Figure B

The blue hand icon notes shared resources.

Once you’ve confirmed the right Windows files are being shared, or if you only wish to share a printer, check to ensure a printer or printers are being shared by:

1. Clicking Start.
2. Clicking Printers and Faxes.
3. Confirming a printer is being shared (look for the same blue hand icon indicating the printer is a shared resource).

 Before connecting the Mac units to the workgroup, you need to review the users/groups and permissions associated with the shared resources (to ensure you can properly configure the Macs to connect to the resources). For each shared resource:

1. Right-click the shared resource and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
2. Click the Security tab (Figure C).
3. Note the group or user names receiving access to the resource.
4. Note the specific permissions each group or user receives.
5. Make any required adjustments to group and user permissions using the supplied Add and Remove buttons.
6. Click OK (if you’ve made any changes or just close the window).

Figure C

Use the Permissions tab to configure specific permissions for users and groups.

If you don’t see permissions listed specifically for each user, your Windows XP system is likely set to Simple File Sharing. To turn Simply File Sharing off and enable more granular control of file and printer shares:

1. Click Start.
2. Select My Computer.
3. Click Tools.
4. Click Folder Options.
5. Select the View tab.
6. Within the Advanced settings window, scroll toward the bottom, find the Use Simple File Sharing (Recommended) check box, and ensure it’s deselected.
7. Click OK.

Mac

Now you’re ready to move to the Mac. To connect the Mac to an existing Windows workgroup:

1. Click on the Dock’s Finder icon.
2. Click on Network in the Finder’s left sidebar (Figure D).
3. Click on Workgroup.
4. Select the system hosting the resources you wish to connect to.
5. Click the Connect button.
6. Enter the workgroup name and a user name and password possessing permissions to access the resource within the SMB window that appears and click OK (Figure E).
7. Select the resource you wish to connect to, then click OK (Figure F).
8. Once the Windows-based resources appear in the Finder, simply drag an item from the Finder to the Mac Desktop to begin using it (Figure G).

Figure D

Use Finder on the Mac to begin sharing resources.

Figure E

You’ll have to provide the workgroup name and a valid Windows user name and password to connect to Windows resources from the Mac.

Figure F

Specify the resources you wish to connect to on the Windows network.

Figure G

Windows resources will appear within Finder once the Mac completes its connection to the Windows system.

Often, workgroup names won’t match up perfectly. Many Windows XP systems are set to use “MShome” as their workgroup, while others use the standard “Workgroup” workgroup name. The Mac uses the default Workgroup name. However, if you wish to change the Mac’s default workgroup name, follow these steps:

1. Click the Dock’s Finder icon.
2. Click Applications.
3. Scroll to the Utilities folder and select it.
4. Double-click Directory Access (Figure H).
5. Enable changes by clicking the padlock.
6. Provide an Administrator account user name and password.
7. Double-click SMB/CIFS.
8. Enter the workgroup name you wish to use in the resulting window or select it from the provided drop-down menu.
9. Click Apply.
10. Close Directory Access.

Figure H

Use the Mac’s Directory Access utility to turn on Windows Sharing.

Sharing resources

To share Mac-based resources with the Windows systems within a workgroup, sit at the Mac and perform these steps:

1. Click the Dock’s System Preferences icon.
2. Click Sharing within the Internet & Network section.
3. Ensure the checkbox for Windows Sharing is checked.
4. Click the Accounts button.
5. Check the boxes to specify which Mac accounts are authorized to use Windows Sharing.
6. Ensure Windows Sharing is on; if it’s not, click the Start button.

Next, move to a Windows system from which you wish to access Mac resources and do the following:

1. Click Start.
2. Click My Network Places.
3. Click View Workgroup Computers from the Network Tasks window; the Mac system may appear.
4. If the Mac system didn’t appear within My Network Places, go to plan B; click Add a Network Place within the Task Pane.
5. When the Add Network Place Wizard appears, click Next.
6. Highlight Choose Another Network Location and click Next.
7. Within the Internet or network address box, specify the Mac system’s IP address (which can typically be found by clicking the Dock’s System Preferences icon on the Mac, selecting Network, and choosing Built-in Ethernet from the Show drop-down menu), followed by the Mac user name, then click Next. Note this is an absolutely critical step: the network address must be entered as \\10.0.0.1\john if the Mac’s IP address is 10.0.0.1 and the user name is john (Figure I).
8. Specify a name for the network place and click Next.
9. Click Finish.
10. The Mac resources will then appear within Windows.

Figure I

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Once configured, accessing Mac resources from a Windows system is just like accessing resources on another Windows box.

Finally, to print to a printer hosted by a Windows system using a Mac:

1. Click the Dock’s System Preferences icon.
2. Click the Print & Fax icon within the Hardware section.
3. Click the Lock (if it’s closed) to enable changes (and provide an administrator user name and password).
4. Click the Plus icon to add a printer.
5. Click the More Printers button.
6. Ensure Windows Printing is selected from within the first drop-down menu.
7. Ensure Network Neighborhood is selected from within the second drop-down menu.
8. Highlight the workgroup possessing the printer you wish to print to and click Choose.
9. Highlight the Windows workstation hosting the printer and click Choose.
10. Enter a Windows user name and password possessing permissions to print to the printer and click OK.
11. Select the printer from the Printer Browser menu.
12. Specify the printer model using the supplied drop-down menu (or select the Generic listing).
13. Click the Add button.