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Network Hardware and Physical Media

The document discusses various types of network hardware and physical media used in computer networks, including file servers, workstations, network interface cards, hubs, switches, repeaters, bridges, routers, and physical media such as coaxial cable, twisted pair cable, fiber optic cable, and wireless networks.

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Namita Sahu
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60 views25 pages

Network Hardware and Physical Media

The document discusses various types of network hardware and physical media used in computer networks, including file servers, workstations, network interface cards, hubs, switches, repeaters, bridges, routers, and physical media such as coaxial cable, twisted pair cable, fiber optic cable, and wireless networks.

Uploaded by

Namita Sahu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Network Hardware and Physical

Media

 Network hardware
includes:
– Computers
– Peripherals
– Interface cards and
– Other equipment needed
to perform data
processing and
communications within
the network
File servers

 A very fast computer


with a large amount of
RAM and storage space
along with a fast
network interface card
 The network operating
system software resides
on this computer
Workstations

 All computers
connected to the file
server on a network are
called workstations
Network interface cards

 The network interface card


(NIC) provides the physical
connection between the network
and the computer workstation.
 Most NICs are internal with the
card fitting into an expansion
slot in the computer.
 Three common network
interface connections are
Ethernet cards, Local Talk
connectors and Token Ring
cards
Ethernet cards

 The most common


Network Interface Co-axial
Cards are Ethernet cable

cards
 They contain
connections for either
coaxial or twisted pair
cables, or both Twisted
pair cable
Concentrators / Hubs

 A concentrator is a
device that provides a
central connection point
for cables from
workstations, servers
and peripherals
 Hubs are multi-slot
concentrators
Switches

 hubs provide an easy way to


scale up and shorten the
distance that the packets must
travel to get from one node to
another
 they do not break up the actual
network into discrete segments.
That is where switches come in.
Switches (continued)

 A vital difference between a hub and a switch is


– all the nodes connected to a hub share the bandwidth among themselves.
– while a device connected to a switch port has the full bandwidth all to itself.
 Think of a switch as a ‘clever’ hub
Repeaters

 A signal loses strength as it passes along a


cable, so it is often necessary to boost the
signal with a device called a repeater
 A repeater might be a separate device, or
might be part of a concentrator
Bridges

 A bridge is a device that allows you to


segment a large network into two
smaller, more efficient networks
An example of a network with a bridge

Router
Hub
Bridge Segment Node

Hub

Internet
Routers

 A router translates information from one network to


another
 The router directs traffic to prevent “head-on”
collisions
 If you have a LAN that you want to connect to the
Internet, you will need a router to serve as the
translator between information on your LAN and the
Internet
Routers (continued)
Physical Media

 Physical media provide the connections


between network devices that make
networking possible
 There are four main types of physical media
in widespread use today:
–– Coaxial Cable
–– Twisted Pair
–– Fiber Optic Cable
–– Wireless Media
LAN Technologies

Ethernet

Physical Media :-
10 Base5 - Thick Co-axial Cable with Bus Topology
10 Base2 - Thin Co-axial Cable with Bus Topology
10 BaseT - UTP Cat 3/5 with Tree Topology
10 BaseFL - Multimode/Singlemode Fiber with Tree
Topology

Maximum Segment Length


10 Base5 - 500 m with at most 4 repeaters (Use Bridge to extend
the network)
10 Base2 - 185 m with at most 4 repeaters (Use Bridge to extend
the network)
10 BaseT - 100 m with at most 4 hubs (Use Switch to extend the
Thick Coaxial
Coaxial Cable
Cable


 Used
Used inin the
the first
first Ethernet
Ethernet networks
networks

 Type
Type RG-11
RG-11 // 10Base5
10Base5

 Usually
Usually orange/black
orange/black

 Thickness
Thickness of of aa small
small garden
garden hose
hose

 Very
Very expensive
expensive and and heavy
heavy cable
cable

 Two
Two strands
strands along
along the
the axis
axis

 Conductor
Conductor downdown the the center
center

 Insulator
Insulator surrounds
surrounds conductor
conductor

 Shielded
Shielded mesh
mesh serves
serves as
as outside
outside
Thin Coaxial Cable

 Alternative to Thick Ethernet Cable


 Type RG-58 / 10Base2 / “Cheapnet”
 Usually black
 Thickness of a pencil
 More flexible than thick Ethernet
 Reduced the cost of the cabling
 Flexible
Coaxial cable connectors

 The most common type of connector used


with coaxial cables is the BNC connector
Twisted Pair Cable

 Phone Systems
 Twisted Pair Cable consists of two copper
wires, usually twisted around each other to
cancel out any noise in the circuit
 Two main type of Twisted Pair Cabling
–– Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
–– Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)
Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)

 STP is the original media used for token ring networks


 STP can be used for high-speed networks, such as FDDI or ATM,
where shielding is important.

RJ-45
Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)

 UTP has four pairs of wires inside the jacket


 Each pair is twisted with a different number of twists per
inch to help eliminate interference from adjacent pairs
UTP (Continued)

 Most commonly used twisted pair cable


 Uses common telephone wire
 UTP was standardized by the IEEE 802.3
committee in October of 1990
 UTP for LANs is now classified as:
–– Category 3 - used for LANs up to 10 Mbps
–– Category 4 - used for LANs up to 16 Mbps
–– Category 5 - used for LANs up to 100 Mbps
Fiber Optic Cable

 Fiber optic cabling consists of a center glass core


surrounded by several layers of protective materials
 It transmits light rather than electronic signals
 It is the standard for connecting networks between
buildings, due to its immunity to the effects of moisture
and light
Fiber Optic (continued)

 Fiber optic cable has the ability to transmit signals over


much longer distances than coaxial or twisted pair
 It can also carry information at vastly greater speeds
 Fiber optic cable is more difficult to install than other
cabling
Wireless LANS

– Wireless networks use high frequency radio signals to


communicate between the workstations and the fileserver or
hubs.
– Disadvantages of wireless networks are:
 they are expensive (relatively),
 provide poor security,
 are susceptible to interference and
 are slower than cabled networks

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