7. Network Services: Lesson Twenty-three

Question 1

What’s the relationship between clients and servers as it relates to network service access?

Answer 1

Client software is used to access network services provided by server software.
The connection is established using a common network protocol known by both the client and server software.
Thus, the client and server software can be from different sources.

Question 2

What’s the relationship between a network service and a network port?

Answer 2

Network services are established using a common network protocol.
The protocol specifies which TCP or UDP port number is used for communications.

Question 3

What’s the primary interface for configuring network service apps?

Answer 3

Internet Accounts preference is the primary interface in OS X for configuring built-in network apps.

Question 4

How does OS X use dynamic network service discovery protocols to access network services?

Answer 4

Devices providing a network service advertise their availability via a dynamic network service discovery protocol.
Clients looking for services request and receive this information to provide the user with a list of available network service choices.

Question 5

Which two dynamic network service discovery protocols are supported by OS X?

Answer 5

OS X supports Bonjour and Server Message Block (SMB), including support for legacy Network Basic Input/Output and Windows Internet Naming Service (NetBIOS and WINS) dynamic network service discovery protocols.

Question 6

Which five network file services can you connect to from the “Connect to Server” dialog in the Finder?

Answer 6

From the “Connect to Server” dialog in the Finder, you can connect to:
• Server Message Blocks/Common Internet File System (SMB/CIFS)
• SMB2/SMB3
• Apple File Protocol (AFP)
• Network File System (NFS)
• Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV)
• File Transfer Protocol (FTP) network file services

Question 7

How are items populated inside the Network folder in the Finder?

Answer 7

The Finder populates the Network folder using information provided by the dynamic network services discovery protocols.
Computers providing services appear as resources inside the Network folder, and service discovery zones or workgroups appear as folders.
Any currently connected servers also appear in the Network folder.

Question 8

What are the two ways you can automatically connect a network share?

Answer 8

To automatically connect a file share when a user logs in to the system, drag the share from the Finder to the user’s login items in Users and Groups preferences.
You can also drag the share to the right side of the user’s Dock, and it will automatically connect when the user clicks the share’s icon in the Dock.

Question 9

What are three common troubleshooting techniques for issues involving failure to connect to network services?

Answer 9

1. Review Network preferences
2. Review the Network Utility statistics
3. Attempt to connect to different network services

Question 10

How can you verify that a specific network service is available from a service provider?

Answer 10

To verify whether a specific service is available from a service provider, first use the Network Utility Ping tab to verify basic connectivity.
Then use the Network Utility Port Scan tab to verify that the specific service port(s) are open. (You should always limit the port scan to the specific ports required for the network service you’re testing.)

Question 11

What are some known issues that arise when connecting to network file services?

Answer 11

Files with metadata may cause problems for NFS or WebDAV network file systems. Also, avoid AFP 2 services provided by Windows file servers.