Here I will give a short and quick description of networking with Debian GNU/Linux.For more indepth documentation and understanding of linux Networking please visit the Linux Documentation Project Here
First I'll start with the basic definitions of network devices:
Loopback The loopback interface(lo),usually at IP=127.0.0.1. This is a fake interface used by the system.No need to tinker with it.
Ethernet The names are eth0,eth1... Are used for Ethernet cards and that's what most home users and corporations are using nowadays.
PPP Point-to-point protocol.used for Dial-up,ISDN.Slow connections, technically at the end of life although mostly used. The interfaces are named ppp0,ppp1
Token Ring Used pretty much just in legacy systems.Except for special cases you won't see this around anymore . Interfaces name=tr0,tr1
The dummy device,used in systems who have an interface which is not always used. Devices names=dummy,dummy0..etc.
I'll cover here just the Ethernet since is widely used for real networking. PPP is just a joke now IMHO.With the content of more Websites today I'll strongly recommend you dump that modem and get a real connection like an ADSL line or cable modem where possible.You shouldn't look for anything slower than at lest an ISDN line.
If you're lucky enough your NIC will be detected at boot time.To check that or if you have a multihomed system(multiple NIC's)and want to see which card is assigned to what device name(eth0,eth1...)type at a console " dmesg | less " so you can scroll up/down using the arrows keys or " dmesg | more " to see one page at a time. If you see a NIC card that have assigned an IRQ and IO,follwed by the device name that's it.Your card is detected without any special options. You might want to write down what module is used(ex. ne2k.c) so you can change that to your proper module if a generic one is used and a proper module exists for your card.
If the NIC is not recognized than you have a couple of options:
1.manually edit the conf.modules(slink and older) or modules.conf (potato) and append a line like this " alias eth0 ne " where ne is the module name
2." insmod modulename " for more info on this one type " insmod " and read the options
3.My preferate modconf I like modconf because it offer a nice,graphical interface and you can see right away if the module will work or not.
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For Slink networking documentation click Here.
For Potato networking documentation clickHere #############################################################################As I said this is a quick overview and I certainly recommend you DO read the excellent HowTo about networking from LDP.
That will be all. BACK
Last updated: June 11 2000.