TCP/IP

The internet uses the TCP/IP protocol. TCP/IP however is actually a suite of protocols that contains specialised protocols to allow both connected and connectionless communication over both the internet and private networks.
One of the most important protocols in the suite is Internet Protocol or IP, which is essentially a hierarchical addressing system designed to provide each network device with a unique address and a method of finding that device through the overall hierarchy.
IP is a connectionless protocol whereas TCP is a connection-orientated protocol, the A+ course does not cover TCP/IP in great depth though and concentrates on connecting client machines to existing networks.

Finding and Using Shared Resources on a Windows Network

You can access shared resources in Windows via "My Network Places" in Windows 2000/XP or "Network Neighborhood" in Windows 9x and NT. Through this screen you can navigate through shared resources on network servers, other computers and printers etc.

If you know a computer name on the network you can use the "Find" or "Search" tool (depending on what version of Windows you're using) from the Start menu to search for computers on the network.

Mapping Network Drives

This is only one way of connecting to network shares however. You can also map network folders as drive letters on your machine. Provided you're connected to the network you can use the drive as if it were located on your machine. Another way of connecting to network resources is to use an UNC path, which uses the format \\niksmachine\share\.

To map a network drive you can either right-click the shared resource you want to map in "My Network Places" and click "Map Network Drive" or you can use Windows Explorer, this method however requires you to either browse to a resource or know the UNC path.

NetBIOS and NetBEUI

NetBIOS - This is also called the "Computer Name" in Windows. It is essentially a name resolution system which allows the computer to be found by name from another machine on the same network. To test this follow these steps in Windows XP. You'll need access to another computer on the network.

1. Right-click My Computer
2. Select Properties
3. Click the Change button next to the text that says "To rename this computer or join a domain click change"
4. Either make note of the computer name or rename your computer
5. Log-on to a different machine
6. Click the Start button and select Run
7. Type \\computer name (replace the text computer name with your computer's name)
8. You should get a new window which should show any shared folders that exist on the first computer

More information on NetBIOS here.

NetBEUI - NetBEUI or NetBIOS Extended User Interface to give it its full name is a transport protocol used in the early days of Windows networking. It is not a scalable protocol this is due to the fact that it will only work on the local network segment, it is an unrouted protocol. NetBEUI has been superceded by the TCP/IP networking protocol. Read more information on NetBEUI here.