Networks and The Death Star

Last night my friend called me up and we started talking about Tight VNC, a remote access program I installed on his computer at school. He asked if it would work now that we are both home and I explained to him that since we are both on different networks it would not. We talked a little more and he asked me about ports. I go to explain and he says “Explain it to me like if the Death Star was a server.” SO I explained it as such- The Death Star is a server- which is of course just a computer. So we have the front of the death star which is the giant ray that is the ruiner of planets. Go 180 degrees around to the back- you have a bunch of bays for ships to land. These bays are the ports. Each port is for a different ship. For instance, one is for the ships caught in the tractor beam (such as the Millennium falcon). One is for Vader’s TIE Fighter, etc. These bays are used often and can be left open because of their use. However, there are some bays that aren’t used that much. For instance, If there was a bay for Darth Sidious’ ship. He does not visit the Death Star but they keep his bay open anyway, in case he does. That is not good- because what if someone steals Sidious’ ship, or get one just like it. Then they can go into that bay and have full access to the Death Star. He then asked me how routers work and I did it in terms of a space station (keeping with the Star Wars Motif). By the end of the conversation, I realized how much of a nerd I really am- not only because I could explain ports and routers in such a manner, but because I enjoyed explaining it that way. Later!