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Networking
Basics:
LAN Basics
Gives basic information about
Local Area Networks and how to distinguish different
types
Even with all the advances in technology, Local
Area Networks (LANs) are still of vital importance
in today fast paced ever changing business world. Nearly
all installed computer systems in every factory, office
or organization are connected to a LAN and the Internet.
This means careful measures should be taken when selecting,
designing and implementing a LAN design. Even though
LAN's can be very large and have become an everyday
part of the business and recreational world, a haphazard
approach can be disastrous.
LANs can be characterized with the
following points:
- the network spreads over a small area, e. g. a single
building or a cluster of buildings
- the network consists of one transmission medium
used for all operations within the network
- the network runs at a high speed (from 10Mbit to
Gigabit)
- it is a peer-to-peer network, that is, any device
within the network can exchange data with any other
device
- it is owned by a single organization, which is responsible
for its operation
LANs can be distinguished in four
major areas:
- the topology of the network: bus or ring
- he wiring layout: linear or star
- the used transmission medium: twisted pair, coaxial
cable (baseband, broadband), optical fibre
- the used medium access control technique: CSMA/CD
or token-passing
Together these points determine cost, capacity, effectiveness
and performance of a LAN. What is more, they determine
whether two LANs can be easily connected, a necessity
that has become obvious during the last few years. The
single points are not independent and cannot be decided
in isolation.
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