Managing network profiles
In the View Your Active Networks section, shown in Figure 7, you can see that the current network is listed as Private Network. In Windows 8, you can choose from three network profiles:
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Domain A network
connection type of Domain indicates that the computer is joined to the
company’s Active Directory domain. The Domain network type is
automatically detected.
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Private A private
network is one that you control or trust. For example, if your company
does not have an Active Directory domain but has many computers, the
network connections would most likely be configured as Private.
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Public A public
network connection is one that is used in a public place. For example,
if you’re visiting a coffee shop or other location with free Wi-Fi, you
would configure the connection as Public.
The type of network you select matters. Windows 8 enables you to
create firewall rules that depend on the type of network to which
you’re connected. For example, public networks are generally considered
hostile environments from a security perspective. For a public network
you might have a much more restrictive set of firewall policies than
you would for a domain network or a private network.
In addition, the network profile you select has a direct impact on
how various assets are shared on the network. For each network
location, you can control what is shared by clicking the Change
Advanced Sharing Settings link at the left side of the window. When you
select this link, the Advanced Sharing Settings dialog box opens. This dialog box displays the details for the current profile. Figure 8 shows the default details for the Private network type.
There are three primary areas of information in the Advanced Sharing Settings window:
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Network Discovery
When Network Discovery is enabled, the Windows 8–based computer can
find other devices on the network and is itself visible on the network.
This feature plays a prominent role in sharing resources such as
documents and printers. When this feature is disabled—which is often
the case for security reasons—the Windows 8–based computer doesn’t seek
out and display network resources and doesn’t advertise itself on the
network. However, even when Network Discovery is disabled, the Windows
8–based computer can use resources shared by other computers or servers
on the network, but the administrator or person using the computer
needs to know the network path to access those resources.
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File And Printer Sharing
When File And Printer Sharing is enabled, the Windows 8–based computer can share its resources on the network. This feature accompanies Network Discovery. Network Discovery makes shared resources visible on the network, whereas File And Printer Sharing is the mechanism by which those resources are shared.
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HomeGroup Connections
In non-domain environments, Windows 8 provides HomeGroup functionality,
which streamlines the process of sharing resources on smaller or home
networks. HomeGroup connections are not available for public networks.
