netwk managemnt skillsets

hi guys i know these are terms related to netwk managemt skillsets...but i am not sure what or how they can be used....i am not employed...so was wonderin whether i can get some action on them at home:)itself...plz help
I)
a)could u guys perhaps jus say like an example of each
b)whats it used for?

1.virtual terminal access
2. protocol analyser >>> does ethereal fall in here?
3. device manager
4.network benchmarking
5. SNMP manager netview/openview

II)
guys whats WEP and SSID...i know WEP is the seurity passswrd for WLAN...and SSID for the netwk name...or is there all to it?
is the WEP passwrd used for encryption process by the WLAN access point?

million thanx in advance

1. Virtual terminal access would be a remote acces solution, for example I'm sitting at work and I want to work on my home machine so I can SSH or telnet across to it and use it like I was sitting in front of the terminal.
2. Yes ethereal is a protocol analyser. Any software that understands various protocols and decodes them into human readable forms (ok so what if us guys at firewall.cx can read hex off the wire ) would be considered a protocol analyser.
3. Device Manager ?!? Thats that little tab in Windows that lists your hardware.. and whatever has chosen to malfunction today . Right click My Computer (or more correctly.. YOUR Computer), properties >> Hardware >> Device Manager. Pretty isn't it ? I just love those little yellow question marks.
4. Network Benchmarking -- A comparison of network performance against a known baseline.. in its purest form this occurs at gaming LAN parties -- "I lost by 10 frags because he had a ping of 10 ms as opposed to my 100 ms"
5. Any network management software that uses SNMP (simple network management protocol).. SNMP is a neat little system that lets devices tell a master device when interesting things happen.. think of it like text messaging for network devices. Its very dramatic sounding.. full of 'traps' and 'alerts'... also terribly insecure I might add. Most people overlook SNMP when locking down devices, and a skilled attacker like.. well.. me of course .. can then use it to make your router juggle oranges while riding a bicycle -- upside down --- with one hand tied to a locomotive.

II - If it doesnt have wires, ask tfs... the gods of networking have decided that they dont want me looking at wireless LANs because they have a higher plan for me.


Hope that helped (if you got through the terrible humour).

Cheers

The gods just want to keep you grounded. Don't want you floating away. :lol:

*struggles against the CAT-5 that binds him to the ground*

I know that firewall.cx is a lot more fun but some times (like for definitions) it is more expeditious to go to places like refdesk.com. For example all three of these definitions can be found at refdesk.com/ just scroll down to the computer or high tech dictionaries on the left.

WEP
Short for Wired Equivalent Privacy, a security protocol for wireless local area networks (WLANs) defined in the 802.11b standard. WEP is designed to provide the same level of security as that of a wired LAN. LANs are inherently more secure than WLANs because LANs are somewhat protected by the physicalities of their structure, having some or all part of the network inside a building that can be protected from unauthorized access. WLANs, which are over radio waves, do not have the same physical structure and therefore are more vulnerable to tampering. WEP aims to provide security by encrypting data over radio waves so that it is protected as it is transmitted from one end point to another. However, it has been found that WEP is not as secure as once believed. WEP is used at the two lowest layers of the OSI model - the data link and physical layers; it therefore does not offer end-to-end security.

SSID
Short for service set identifier, a 32-character unique identifier attached to the header of packets sent over a WLAN that acts as a password when a mobile device tries to connect to the BSS. The SSID differentiates one WLAN from another, so all access points and all devices attempting to connect to a specific WLAN must use the same SSID. A device will not be permitted to join the BSS unless it can provide the unique SSID. Because an SSID can be sniffed in plain text from a packet it does not supply any security to the network, An SSID is also referred to as a network name because essentially it is a name that identifies a wireless network.

BSS refer to:
infrastructure mode
An 802.11 networking framework in which devices communicate with each other by first going through an Access Point (AP). In infrastructure mode, wireless devices can communicate with each other or can communicate with a wired network. When one AP is connected to wired network and a set of wireless stations it is referred to as a Basic Service Set (BSS). An Extended Service Set (ESS) is a set of two or more BSSs that form a single subnetwork. Most corporate wireless LANs operate in infrastructure mode because they require access to the wired LAN in order to use services such as file servers or printers.

Ahh good, I haven't had something to add to my bookmarks all day