Linksys LNE100TX User Guide - Page 38

Glossary Linksys Instant EtherFast® Series 10BaseT - An Ethernet standard that uses twisted wire pairs. 100BaseTX - IEEE physical layer specification for 100 Mbps over two pairs of Category 5 UTP or STP wire. Adapter - Printed circuit board that plugs into a PC to add to capabilities or connectivity to a PC. In a networked environment, a network interface card (NIC) is the typical adapter that allows the PC or server to connect to the intranet and/or Internet. Bit - A binary digit. The value - 0 or 1-used in the binary numbering system. Also, the smallest form of data. Boot - To cause the computer to start executing instructions. Personal computers contain built-in instructions in a ROM chip that are automatically executed on startup. These instructions search for the operating system, load it and pass control to it. Bus Mastering - A bus design that allows the peripheral controllers (plug-in boards) to access the computer's memory independently of the CPU. It allows data transfers to take place between the peripheral device and memory while the CPU is performing other tasks. CAT 3 - ANSI/EIA (American National Standards Institute/Electronic Industries Association) Standard 568 is one of several standards that specify "categories" (the singular is commonly referred to as "CAT") of twisted pair cabling systems (wires, junctions, and connectors) in terms of the data rates that they can sustain. CAT 3 cable has a maximum throughput of 16 Mbps and is usually utilized for 10BaseT networks. CAT 5 - ANSI/EIA (American National Standards Institute/Electronic Industries Association) Standard 568 is one of several standards that specify "categories" (the singular is commonly referred to as "CAT") of twisted pair cabling systems (wires, junctions, and connectors) in terms of the data rates that they can sustain. CAT 5 cable has a maximum throughput of 100 Mbps and is usually utilized for 100BaseTX networks. 69 EtherFast® 10/100 LAN Cards CPU (Central Processing Unit) - The computing part of the computer. Also called the "processor," it is made up of the control unit and ALU. CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection) - The LAN access method used in Ethernet. When a device wants to gain access to the network, it checks to see if the network is quiet (senses the carrier). If it is not, it waits a random amount of time before retrying. If the network is quiet and two devices access the line at exactly the same time, their signals collide. When the collision is detected, they both back off and each wait a random amount of time before retrying. Download - To receive a file transmitted over a network. In a communications session, download means receive, upload means transmit. Driver - A workstation or server software module that provides an interface between a network interface card and the upper-layer protocol software running in the computer; it is designed for a specific NIC, and is installed during the initial installation of a network-compatible client or server operating system. Ethernet - IEEE standard network protocol that specifies how data is placed on and retrieved from a common transmission medium. Has a transfer rate of 10 Mbps. Forms the underlying transport vehicle used by several upper-level protocols, including TCP/IP and XNS. Fast Ethernet - A 100 Mbps technology based on the 10Base-T Ethernet CSMA/CD network access method. Full Duplex - The ability of a device or line to transmit data simultaneously in both directions. Half Duplex - Data transmission that can occur in two directions over a single line, but only one direction at a time. Hardware - Hardware is the physical aspect of computers, telecommunications, and other information technology devices. The term arose as a way to distinguish the "box" and the electronic circuitry and components of a computer from the program you put in it to make it do things. The program came to be known as the software. 70