Network Types: LANs
Acknowledgement:
Classifying Networks Source info = "MCSE Networking Essentials for Dummies"
2nd Edition: Author: Robert Aschermann: Copyright ã 1999
Classifying Networks: To organize and compare all the different networking standards, you need to establish a set of criteria for describing and categorizing them. Memorize the characteristics of the different standards and media types.
General Characteristics: Networks are classified based on many criteria. Following are four of the most important:
The number of computers on the network: More important than the actual number of computers are the different types of computers and the different configurations on the network. Supporting ten computers in not that different from supporting a hundred if they are all the same make and model and have the same configuration.
The cost of the network: You need to determine how much of the Information Technologies ( IT ) department buget is allocated to support and the purchase of hardware and software. A new concept, Total Cost of Ownership ( TCO ) of PCs, is a Microsoft initiative to make the Microsoft/Intel platform more attractive. Studies have shown that only percent of the total cost of owning a PC is hardware and software. The rest is support and maintenance.
The type of operating sytems and software on the network: A network administrator's responsibility is to match the appropriate NOS (network operating system) to the needs of the organization. Some take a single-vendor approach and select whichever vendor supports the majority of their requirements. This reduces support costs but limits functionality. Others take a best-of-bred approach and select the best NOS for each requirement or situation. This results in higher support costs but more flexibility.
To reduce TCO, companies are standardizing on a single 32-bit NOS that provides adequate security and scalability. Companies also are rewriting their legacy applications to 32-bit client/server applications to run on these network operating systems.
The support topologies of the network: Some networks, such as Ethernet, can support a variety of topologies, including bus, star, and star-bus. Other networks, such as token ring, can support only a ring or star-ring configuration.
Information Source for the Above: Page 66: MCSE Networking Essentials for Dummies: Auther, Robert Aschermann.
The main technologies to choose between are
There are other technologies that exist as
Information Source: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/home-network2.htm
Ethernet Protocol: it has evolved over time; Two individuals at Xerox PARC - Bob Metcalfe and Dr Boggs developed Ethernet back in 1972, and specifications based on this work appeared in IEEE 802.3 in 1980.
History on Origin of GUI & "who is PARC": Quote lifted from "Overdrive" Author: Jame Wallace: Chapter 3: The Internet 101: Page 97 2nd Paragrah: "And Microsofts graphical user interface that became Windows was so similair to what Apple has developed for it's Macintosh computer that Apple sued Microsoft. Of course, the idea had not originated with Apple. The graphical user interface was the work of a team of brilliant scientist at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, or PARC. Apples Steve Jobs had taken on look at the interface technology during a visit to PARC and realized its commercial potential. PARC was known for it innovative technology, but it didnt know how to bring that technology to the market place. Gates and Myhrvold were determined that Microsoft's Advanced Technology Group would not make the same mistakes as PARC, and leave its best work in the lab."
The original standard includes the 10 and 100 Mbps Ethernet Media Types.
Ethernet and the IEEE Standard 802.3
The Original Standard (802.3) 10 Megabit per second (Mbps system) Fast Ethernet (802.3u) 100 Megabit per second (Mbps system) Gigabit Ethernet (802.3z / 802.3ab) 1000 Megabit per second (Mbps system) 10 Gigabit Ethernet (802.3ae) 10000 Megabit per second (Mbps system)
For more indepth details about local area network (LAN) technologies, visit the link below.
Information Source: http://www.ethermanage.com/ethernet/ethernet.html
For More information on Standards: Visit one of many standards committee's, Ive listed one below: http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/index.html
Next: Explaination of what cabling to use when designing networks and a little bit of history/evolution stuff.