CHAPTER FOUR: COMPARING LOCAL NETWORK HARDWARE Flashcards
What is a local area network (LAN)?
A LAN is like an office or school where all the computers are close together and connected using cables or Wi-Fi.
It can cover a single room, a building, or even a few nearby buildings. The cables and devices in a LAN are owned and managed by the organization that uses them.
What is a wireless area network?
WLAN is the Same as a LAN, but instead of cables, it uses Wi-Fi (radio waves) to connect devices.
What is a wide Area network?
A WAN is like the Internet—it connects different locations over long distances. Companies rent cables and services from Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to connect their offices in different cities or countries.
What is a metropolitain Area Network?
A MAN is a network that covers a whole city. It’s bigger than a LAN but smaller than a WAN.
What is a personal area network?
A PAN is super small—just a few meters. Think of Bluetooth devices like wireless headphones, smartwatches, or connecting your phone to your laptop.
what is a small office, home office network?
A SOHO network is what you have at home or in a small business—usually a router that connects everything to the Internet.
What are Datacenters & Storage Area Networks (SAN)?
A datacenter is a big building full of servers that store and process data.
A Storage Area Network (SAN) is used in datacenters to store large amounts of data and is only accessed by servers.
What is a network interface card (NIC)?
- This is a card inside your computer that lets it connect to a network.
- It can use copper cables (electrical signals) or fiber optic cables (light pulses) to send data.
- Each NIC has a MAC address—a unique ID number that identifies your computer on the network.
What is a patch panel?
Imagine this like a giant power strip, but for network cables. It organizes and connects computers to the main network switch.
What is a hub?
A hub is like a megaphone in a room full of people—it shouts out every message to everyone. This means every computer hears all the network traffic, which can slow things down.
In a hub, all computers are trying to talk at once, and sometimes their messages collide—so they have to wait and try again. This slows things down.
What is a switch?
The equipment that helps direct this traffic is called switches and the paths they travel on are network cables. A switch is smarter than a hub. Instead of shouting messages to everyone, it sends data only to the correct device. This reduces traffic jams and makes the network faster.
In a switch, each computer gets its own direct line, so no collisions happen.
What is a half-duplex and a full duplex in network collisions?
Half-duplex is like a walkie-talkie: you can talk OR listen, but not both at the same time.
Full duplex is like a phone: you can talk and listen at the same time.
What is an unmanaged switch?
This is the “plug-and-play” option. You just plug in your devices, and it automatically connects everything—like a simple power strip for data.
What is a managed switch?
This one is like a smart traffic light. It works like an unmanaged switch by default, but an IT person can log in, set up security settings, and control how traffic moves through the network. These are typically installed in network racks (big metal shelves for tech equipment).
What is power over the ethernet (PoE)?
Normally, devices like security cameras and phones need a power cord AND a network cable. PoE switches solve this by sending power through the network cable itself, removing the need for extra power adapters.
A PoE switch first checks if the connected device can receive power through the cable. If it can, the switch supplies the right amount of power. If not, it keeps the power off to avoid damage. PoE is more efficient than using separate power cables and allows IT teams to remotely manage power settings (like turning off unused devices to save energy).
Describe an Unshielded twisted pair (UTP) network cable
- This is the most common type of network cable.
- It consists of four pairs of twisted copper wires inside a plastic cover.
- The twists help reduce interference (like keeping radio static away from your favorite station).
- UTP cables work great but only up to about 100 meters (328 feet) before the signal starts weakening (attenuation).
Describe a shieled twisted pair (STP) network cable
STP is like UTP but with extra shielding (a metal wrap around the wires) to block interference. It’s commonly used in data centers and areas with lots of electronic noise, like near fluorescent lights or power lines.
What are Cat cables?
Cat cables (Category cables) are rated for different speeds, like how different cars have different top speeds.
The higher the Cat number, the faster the data can travel. These are defined by a standard called TIA/EIA-568-C, which is like a rulebook for how cables should be made.
What are RJ45 connectors?
these are the little plastic clips you plug into computers, routers, or switches.
The fancy name for RJ45 is “8P8C,” which just means eight positions and eight contacts—basically, eight little metal connectors inside the clip that let data flow through.
Describe copper cabling (internet cables)
Inside the Ethernet cable, there are four twisted pairs of wires, each with a different color (orange, green, blue, and brown).
Each pair has one wire that’s mostly white with color stripes and another wire that’s solid-colored. These pairs help prevent interference and keep the signal clean.
What is a Network Tap?
A network tap is like a secret agent that listens to everything happening on a network cable without interfering. It’s used for monitoring and analyzing network traffic.
What are the two types of network taps?
- Passive TAP – This one just makes a copy of the data and sends it to a monitoring tool without changing anything. It captures everything, even corrupted data. It works without power.
- Active TAP – These needs power and actually boosts (or regenerates) the signal so that it remains strong. However, if the power goes out, it can fail and disrupt the network.
What does it mean when cabling has fire codes and safety regulations?
When installing cables in a building, you have to follow fire codes and safety regulations. That means using special types of cables depending on where they are installed.
What are Plenum cables?
Fire-Safe Cables for Air Vents
Some buildings have spaces above ceilings or under floors where air moves for heating and cooling (called plenum spaces). These spaces make it easy to run cables, BUT they also help fires spread quickly.
Because of that, plenum-rated cables must be used in these areas. These cables don’t release much smoke and self-extinguish (stop burning on their own).
