Interfaces and Cabling

Question 1

Interfaces and Cabling

Answer 1

• Cisco routers support various physical interfaces.
• There are two types: fixed-configuration routers and modular routers.
• Fixed-configuration routers have limited integrated interfaces and don’t allow interface additions or replacements.
• They’re suitable for small office/home office (SOHO) setups.
• Modular routers have integrated LAN interfaces and expansion slots for additional interfaces

Question 2

Copper Cables

Answer 2

• Copper wires transmit data as electrical signals in various networks.
• Networks like Ethernet, Token Ring, and Copper Distributed Data Interface (CDDI) use copper cabling.
• Modern Ethernet networks primarily use copper unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cables:
  - Inexpensive, easy to install, and support speeds up to 1 Gbps.
  - UTP cable segments should not exceed 100 meters in length.

Question 3

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable Categories

Answer 3

• Category 3 (10BaseT Ethernet): Up to 10 Mbps data transmission.
  
  • Category 5 (Fast Ethernet or 100BaseTX): Up to 100 Mbps data rates.
  • Category 5e or higher (Gigabit Ethernet or 1000BaseT): Up to 1 Gbps data rates.

Question 4

Connecting UTP with RJ-45

Answer 4

• Connectors contain eight pins
• Pins are numbered from right to left
• Pins 1 and 2 transmit
• Pins 3 and 6 Receive
• Gig Ethernet uses all eight pins

Question 5

T568A RJ 45 head

Answer 5

• PIN 1 = white/green | Tx+
• PIN 2 = green | Tx-
• PIN 3 = white/orange | Rx+
• PIN 6 = orange | Rx-

Question 6

T568B RJ 45 head

Answer 6

• PIN 1 = white/orange | Tx+
• PIN 2 = orange | Tx-
• PIN 3 = white/green | Rx+
• PIN 6 = green | Rx-

Question 7

Crossover Cables

Answer 7

• Connect similar devices (router/router)
• Different pinout on each end

Question 8

Straight-through cable

Answer 8

• Connect dissimilar devices.
• save pin out each end.

Question 9

Serial Cables

Answer 9

Serial cables are also copper cables.
However, they are not as commonly used as they once were due to the transition to Ethernet and fiber-optic cables.

Question 10

Cisco Devices and Serial Cables

Answer 10

• Cisco devices support five types of serial cables.
• The most commonly used serial cable is a 25-pin EIA/TIA-232 cable with a DB-25 connector at either end.

Question 11

DCE and DTE

Answer 11

• One end of a serial cable is the Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment (DCE) end.
• The other end is the Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) end.
• DCE end provides clocking to the DTE end.
• Correct clock rate configuration on the DTE end is crucial for establishing physical connectivity between devices.