The network is two or more computers are connected to one another via a cable of some sort. Before you even deal with the network tools, you should understand how you're connected to it. If you print to a printer that two people are using, this type of connection is called a sharing connection, because both of you are sharing one printer with two computers. However, you must understand that all the computers in your school are connected to their server, or the main computer that controls what each computer with its domain (territory of computers; all the computers located in a network) is allowed to do, which is usually located in the library. This connection is called a LAN, or Local Area Network. However, when these servers are connected to one another from library to library, this is called a WAN, or Wide Area Network, which is connected to one main server. Our main server, called Seovec, is located in Athens, and the district's domain is WLS Domain (capital letters no spaces).

 But how are you connected to one another's computer? Each of your computers, known as a terminal if connected to a network, has a modem which is the number one device for connecting to the Network. Without it, your network username/password would be useless. Home computers more often connect with their modems at their modem speeds, with a telephone line. However, instead of using their slow modem speed, and little phone lines, the district uses a thick cable called a T1 line. What can take somebody using a 56k connection an hour to download information, will only take somebody using a T1 connection one minute to download! Now that's speed.

The icon Network Neighborhood, found on the Desktop, lists all the computers in the district connected to the network. It is here that your school's server can be accessed, and I think the district's as well. See File Management to learn how to manage files over the network.

For more on using the network, see Using the Network.

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