A home network is a residential local area network connecting multiple devices within the home. The simplest home networks connect two or more microcomputers that share files, a printer, and a single Internet connection. Connecting a server adds functionality.

Some companies such as AT&T offer their version of home networking to furnish data, video, and voice services to residential customers. These services usually operate over the existing home wiring. The companies install and manage the network, all at a price.

While this article presents some of the software found in home networks we also consider the hardware components. Essential home networking components include a high-speed modem for connection to the Internet. Connection choices include a DSL modem for telephone subscribers and a cable modem for cable subscribers. If you choose an old-fashioned traditional modem, the service could be excruciatingly slow. If you want to connect several computers to the Internet simultaneously you'll need a router, which may be wireless. Other components include a wide variety of toys such as digital audio players, games machines, and TiVo. You may also consider a print server and for large networks, a network attached storage (NAS) device.

When your home network gets complicated you may consider designating one computer as a home server that handles account authentication, backup, file, printer, and program serving, media center serving, web serving, and more. Interestingly enough the server need not be the most powerful computer in your network. It should have a fast hard drive. An uninterruptible power supply is highly recommended.

All of these hardware devices are software driven. In principle they can be managed by unsophisticated home users, however, this promise is not always kept. One possibility to consider (we have not used this product) is Microsoft's Windows Home Server. This operating system requires that you connect the server to the router via an Ethernet Card and Ethernet cabling. Since a server usually runs 24/7 it's a good place to handle recording TV and radio shows.

Now that we have introduced the hardware, let's take a closer look at some software that may run in your home network. Because of computer and networking problems you may consider remote desktop software and other remote administration software. These products enable the family networking expert to analyze and solve the problem on Daddy's computer as if she were sitting in front of it.

Web serving software lets you set up a family-version of the Internet. Apache, the most widely used web server program, is available for free. Warning: It's not so easy to learn and please don't make any mistakes that would block your access to the Internet.

Home automation promises to grow over the years. This requires a 24/7 computer, additional hardware, and specialized software. But it provides more sophisticated lighting control than does a simple timer from the local hardware store. Other home networking applications include a family calendar, message board, and to-do lists. Ask the kids how to do messaging. You may want to play games on the computers.

Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet. He teaches Linux and Windows operating systems plus other computer courses at an Ontario French-language community college. Visit his new website http://www.php4windows.com which teaches you how to download and run PHP on Windows computers, even if they are "obsolete." For a break from computers check out his global wine website at http://www.theworldwidewine.com with his new weekly column reviewing $10 wines.

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Do you have a huge file of AVI or other video files that you would like to view with iTunes and or your iPod? If so, you are not alone. Many people are looking for an easy way to convert video files to an iPod format without spending huge amounts of money or time in the process. This used to be next to impossible, but now thanks to the ultra affordable and user friendly Cucusoft iPod Movie Converter Suite, this can be accomplished quickly, easily, and economically.

While many converter suites require a lot of specialized knowledge and time spent learning to use the programs, this useful program can reduce the video conversion process to five easy-to-understand steps.

Step 1. Open the Cucusoft ipod video converter.

Step 2. Click on the button "Open file" to open the files that are to be converted to iPod format.

Step 3. Select the button "Output" to determine the output folders.

Step 4. Click the "Convert" button to transform the files into iPod format.

Step 5. Import the video to iTunes and add the file to your preferred playlist.

If you have files in a variety of formats that you would like to convert in just as easy of a process, the Cucusoft iPod Movie Converter Suite can make the process just as easy. This software can convert a variety of file types including MOV, DivX, MPG, WMV, and RMVB. The process is the same regardless of the type of format, making it an easy choice for versatile converter software.

To Learn More About Converting AVI to iPod Format, Visit the Video Converter Review Center Today at http://videoconverterreviews.com/!

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Everyone can benefit from data recovery freeware from those who use their computer at home for fun to large corporations who use computers to run million dollar operations. It makes sense to protect your personal files as well as those of your customers. You don't want hackers to get your financial information, copies of your contracts, or passwords for your online accounts. This can happen if your hard drive crashes or the server fails for one reason or another.

There are some great places online to find quality software programs. Take your time and choose the right one for your computer security needs. By entering keywords into your favorite internet browser you can find pages of freeware programs to use. Try typing in a variation of keywords to get the most results. For example you should try both "recovery freeware" and "free data recovery".

Compile a list of websites you want to look at for their freeware program. You should have a good idea of the features you want the data recovery software to offer. You can find information about the pros and cons of a particular software program just by reading the reviews posted by other users. This way you avoid accessing one that isn't going to live up to the standards you are looking for.

In most cases you will be asked to register with the site before you are allowed to download the installation package. The time it will take to download the material depends on the size of the package and how fast your internet connection is. The installation process should be simple and you can easily get started using it. Most of the data recovery programs offer you step by step instructions to help you zip right through the set up process.

Don't underestimate the importance of protecting your data. It is very easy to do so just by downloading a data recovery program that you can find online. The process doesn't take very long and it is the responsible way to protect all of your personal information for your home or business.

If you found this information on Data Recovery Freeware useful, you'll also want to read about External Hard Drive Data Recovery.

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A network traffic monitor examines the usage of a Local Area Network (LAN) and gives display information of download and upload statistics. The main function of a network traffic monitor is to count and monitor the IP traffic between the Internet and LAN. One of the most common functions of a network traffic monitor is to monitor the bandwidth usage of firewalls, routers and leased lines. Network traffic monitors register and monitor every new dial-up connection, and can upload and download traffic of computers. It displays all the details of incoming and outgoing traffic of the last 10 minutes on the link. These 10 minutes adds up to hours, and this information is saved in computer for further analyzing.

A network traffic monitor informs which applications in a machine are causing how much network traffic, and over which IP port this traffic is occurring. It can identify peak usage hours, application usage and more. A user can view details on the host, recent traffic patterns and applications that are generating network traffic. A network traffic monitor, with just a few clicks, shows everything that passes through the network’s pipes. One can easily filter the network traffic to concentrate on certain information that is much needed.

A network traffic monitor debugs new applications that involves network communication and troubleshoots network related problems. Some network traffic monitors have technology that allows the decoding and restoring of network traffic in an easy format, so that even a novice user can understand it. A network traffic monitor can track the entire process of incoming and outgoing traffic, all uploads and downloads, instant messaging conversations, sent and received e-mails, and viruses. Many software companies offer free trial versions of network traffic monitors to promote their company.

Network Monitors provides detailed information on Network Monitors, Network Traffic Monitors, Network Bandwidth Monitors, Network Monitor Software and more. Network Monitors is affiliated with Network Monitoring Tools.

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If you've been using MySQL database to store your important data, it is imperative that you make a backup of your data to prevent any loss of data. This article shows you how to backup and restore data in your MySQL database. This process can also be used if you have to move your data to a new server.

Backing up your database

The quickest and easiest way to backup and restore your database would be to use MySQLDump. If you've got shell or telnet access to your server, you can backup MySQL data by issuing the mysqldump command. The syntax for the command is as follows.

mysqldump -u [uname] -p [pass] [dbname] > [backupfile.sql] [uname] - this is your database username [pass]- this is the password for your database [dbname] - the name of your database [backupfile.sql] - the filename for your database backup

To backup your database 'Customers' with the username 'sadmin' and password 'pass21' to a file custback.sql, you would issue the command

mysqldump -u sadmin -p pass21 Customers > custback.sql

Issuing this command will backup the database to custback.sql. This file can be copied to a safe location or a backup media and stored. For more information on MySQLDump, you can check out : http://www.mysql.com/doc/en/mysqldump.html

Restoring your database

If you have to re-build your database from scratch, you can easily restore the mysqldump file by issuing the following command. This method will not work if the tables already exist in your database.

mysql - u sadmin -p pass21 Customers < expert="Vinu_Thomas">

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