Apple 9600 manual Connecting Your Computer to a Network

Read this chapter for information on

physically connecting and configuring

your computer to work on a network.

5 Connecting Your Computer to a Network

Your Macintosh has built-in networking ports so that you can connect it to a network that consists of as few as two computers or as many as thousands or even millions of computers and other devices. The network allows you and the other people connected to it to share information, access remote services, and share computing resources such as printers and modems.

A network extends the features of your Macintosh by extending your reach to the services and resources provided on the network. For example, by itself, your computer lets you store, retrieve, and modify information on hard disks and floppy disks. On a network, however, you can also store and retrieve information on servers, access information that other people have stored on their computers, and use electronic mail and other network services.

You can connect your Macintosh to a LocalTalk network and to a high-speed Ethernet network. You can also purchase peripheral component interconnect (PCI) cards for alternative networks such as TokenRing, ISDN, and Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI).

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