chapter 1 understanding local area network (LAN)

hub

a hub is the most basic central connecting device hubs enable computers on a network to communicate a host sends data to the hub the hub sends the data to all devices connected to the hub

local area network

a local area network (lan) is a group of computers confined to a small geographic area such as a single building a lan is a group of computers share a communication medium such as called or wireless connections

network adapters and rj45 patch cable

a network adapter also known as a nic card (nic) is the hardware device that enables you to send and receive from your computer rj45 is the most common type of network adapter connections

network topology

a network topology defines the physical connections of hosts in a computer network there are several types of physical topologies including bus ring star mesh tree

token ring

a token ring network sends data logically in a ring mansion meaning that a token goes to each computer one at a time and continues on in cycles physically token ring computers are connected in a star fashion namely all computers in a token ring network are connected to a central connecting device known as a mutistation access unit

virtual lan

a virtual lan (vlan) is a group of hosts with a common set of requirements that communicate as if they were connected together in normal fashion on one switch regardless of their physical location

remote desktops services and remote sessions

centralized computing has made a comeback of sorts remote desktops services and remote sessions to computers are based off of the centralized computing model

lan

computer and other devices are connected using copper based twisted pair cables or wireless equipment

frames

computers on ethernet networks communicate via frames a frame is a sequence of bits containing a detectable beginning and end of a packet in the stream of bits a frame is a data packet reading on layer 2 of the osi model

centralized computing

computing is done at a central location using terminals that are attached to this main system mainframes are powerful computer and the rest of the devices connected to the computer are known as terminals each terminal consisted solely of a keyboard and display with no processing power

data transfer rate

data transfer rate defines the maximum bits per second(bps) that can be transmitted over a network rated in bits and signified with a lowercase the lowercase differentiates this unit from that is stored on a hard drive which uses an upper case that stands for bytes types of transfers broadcasts sends data to every other host on the network unicast sends data back to a specific host

distributed computing

distributed computing includes both client -server and peer to peer networks every device or workstations has its processor power

mesh topology

every computer connects to every other computer; no central connecting device is needed

ring topology

in a lan environment each computer os connected to the network using a closed loop used by token ring and fiber distributed data interface (fddi)

ethernet

institute of electoral and electronics engineers (ieee) standard (802.3) ethernet is the de facto standard and is most widely installed local area network technology common types of ethernet include: 802.3u or fast ethernet that runs at 100 mbps

host

ip address are usually applied to your network adapter but they can also be applied to other devices like switches routers and so the fact that a device or computer has an ipaddress is what makes it a host

servers

more powerful computers that provide centralized services: file print database network computer messaging/email web

star topology

most common topology each computer is individually wired to a central connecting device hub switch or soho router with twisted pair cabling

ip address

mostly every computer and many other devices have an internet protocol (ip) address an ip address uniquely identifies your device and the associated network and allows each device to send and receive information a typical ip example of a ipv4 address would be 192.168.1.1 every ip address is broken down into two parts by a subnet address network id 192.168.1

network documentation

network documentation helps describe define and explain the physical and logical method for connecting devices the documentation phase occurs before a network is but, or when changes are made to the network micrsoft visio is a tool that can be used to document networks

networks

networks are used to exchange data reasons for networks include sharing information communication organizing data

peer to peer network

peer to peer networking distributes applications or workloads between computers peers are both service providers and service requesters

p2p

peer to peer or p2p has recently taking on a additional meaning p2p can also refer to file sharing networks example: napster gnuella g2

router

routers enable computers to communicate and allow communication two networks such as your home network the internet this communications link between the one network and the other where the lan ends

serial data transfer

serial data transfer is the transfer of one bit at a time in other words transfer in a single bit stream like a one lane highway on the network cable data travels in a single bit stream

switch

switches work the same was as a hub but they can identify the intended recipient of the data switches can send and receive data at the same time

client/sever model

the client/server model is an architecture that distributes applications between servers and client computers server: system that provides services such as windows server 2008 r2 client: device that requests services such as windows 7

subnet mask

the subnet mask is a group of four numbers that define what ip network the computers is a member of all of the 255 in a subnet mask collectively refer to the network portion whereas the 0's rerfer to the host portion

wireless access point

the wireless access point (was) acts as the central connecting device for the network wireless networks can consist of many types devices of devices other than traditional pcs smartphone pda tablet computers micro computers pcs and laptop equipped with wireless network adapters can connect to these networks as well

summary

understood local are network (lans) including but not limited to lan elements design perimeter networks ip addressing and lan types understood network topologies and access methods including topologies such as star mesh and ring ethernet architecture and the client server and peer to peer networking models