3Com 3C16750-US User Guide - Page 2

CREATING YOUR NETWORK Networking Terminology A Network is a collection of workstations (for example, IBM-compatible PCs) and other equipment (for example, printers), connected for the purpose of exchanging information or sharing resources. Networks vary in size; some are within a single room, others span continents. A Local Area Network (LAN) is a network, usually in an office, that spans no more than a single site. Ethernet is a type of LAN, referring to the technology used to pass information around the network. It operates at 10Mbps (megabits per second). Fast Ethernet is a type of LAN that runs up to 10 times faster than standard Ethernet. It operates at 100Mbps. 10BASE-T is the name given to the Ethernet protocol that runs over Twisted Pair (TP) cable at 10Mbps. 100BASE-TX is the name given to the Fast Ethernet protocol that runs over Twisted Pair (TP) cable at 100Mbps. A Network Loop occurs when two pieces of network equipment are connected by more than one path. A Segment is the length of cable connected to a port. Packets are the units of information your workstations and other equipment send to each other over the network. A Frame is the data part of the packet and can be Unicast (sent to a single device), Multicast (sent to multiple devices), or Broadcast (sent to all devices). Bandwidth refers to the amount of network traffic the network can hold at any one time (information capacity) measured in bits per second (bps). Workstations or applications that use the network heavily are referred to as using high bandwidth (these are usually users who do a lot of graphical or multi-media work across the network). Fast Ethernet has a higher bandwidth than Ethernet, so it can cope with larger amounts of traffic, which results in faster operation. In a Half Duplex link, information can flow in either direction, but not in both directions simultaneously. 2