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NETWORK HARDWARE
Desired Learning Objectives
At the end of this chapter he should be broadly able to understand:-
(a) The importance of IC!
(b) "or#in$ of ICs!
(c) "hat is %AC Address!
(c) "or#in$ of net&or#in$ de'ices e!$! hubs( brid$es( s&itches etc
The Network Interface ard
)! et&or# interface cards (ICs) pro'ide the interface bet&een cables( and
computers! This chapter e*plores different types of cards and ho& their
performance affects a net&or#! It also discusses the 'arious connectors used to
connect the cards to the cables!
The Ro!e of the Network Interface ard
+! Network interface cards, usually referred to as ICs( act as the physical
interface or connection bet&een the computer and the net&or# cable! ,i$ure
sho&s a IC &ith a coa*ial-cable connection! The cards are installed in an
e*pansion slot in each computer and ser'er on the net&or#! After the IC has
been installed( the net&or# cable is attached to the card-s port to ma#e the actual
physical connection bet&een the computer and the rest of the net&or#!
A simple NIC
.! The role of the IC is to:-
(a) /repare data from the computer for the net&or# cable!
(b) Send the data to another computer!
(c) Controls flo& of data bet&een the computer and cablin$ system!
(d) Recei'e incomin$ data from the cable and translate it into bytes
that can be understood by the computer-s central processin$ unit (C/0)!
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"A Address
1! In addition to transformin$ data( the IC also has to ad'ertise its o&n
location( or address( to the rest of the net&or# to distin$uish it from all the other
cards on the net&or#! A committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
En$ineers (IEEE) assi$ns bloc#s of addresses to each IC manufacturer! The
hard&are manufacturers &rite these addresses into chips on the card by a
process #no&n as 2burnin$2! "ith this process( each IC and therefore each
computer has a uni3ue address on a net&or# called 4%AC Address5!
Twisted#$air ab!ing o%&onents
6! As &e #no& there are more than ++77 cables! The most common of these
is T&isted /air cable! T&isted-pair is defined cablin$ by the number of t&ists and
its ability to transmit data( additional components are necessary to complete an
installation! As it is &ith telephone cablin$( a t&isted-pair cable net&or# re3uires
connectors and other hard&are to ensure proper installation!
(a) onnection hardware! T&isted-pair cablin$ uses R8-16 telephone
connectors to connect to a computer! These are similar to R8-))
telephone connectors! An R8-16 connector is sho&n in ,i$ure! Althou$h
R8-)) and R8-16 connectors loo# ali#e at first $lance( there are crucial
differences bet&een them! The R8-16 connector is sli$htly lar$er and &ill
not fit into the R8-)) telephone 9ac#! The R8-16 connector houses ei$ht
cable connections( &hile the R8-)) houses only four!
RJ-45 connector and jack
(b) Distrib'tion racks and rack she!ves! Distribution rac#s and rac#
shel'es can create more room for cables &here there isn-t much floor
space! 0sin$ them is a $ood &ay to or$ani:e a net&or# that has a lot of
connections!
(c) E(&andab!e &atch &ane!s! These come in 'arious 'ersions that
support up to ;< ports and transmission speeds of up to )77 %bps!
(d) )ack co'&!ers! These sin$le or double R8-16 9ac#s snap into
patch panels and &all plates and support data rates of up to )77 %bps!
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(e) Wa!! &!ates! These support t&o or more couplers!
Various twisted-pair cablin components
!atc" panel and wall plates
(f) *traight and ross#over ab!e! To communicate smoothly on
net&or# strands of t&isted pair cables are placed in a specific se3uence!
To $et the optimum results international standard are made for color
codin$ to ma#e a strai$ht or cross-o'er cable( standards are as under:-
T+,-A . =reen-"( =reen( >ran$e-"( ?lue( ?lue-"( >ran$e!
?ro&n-"( ?ro&n
T+,-/ . >ran$e-"( >ran$e( =reen-"( ?lue( ?lue-"( =reen(
?ro&n-"( ?ro&n
oa(ia!#ab!e onnection Hardware
<! ?oth thinnet and thic#net cable use a connection component( #no&n as a
#NC connector( to ma#e the connections bet&een the cable and the computers!
There are se'eral important components in the ?C family( includin$ the
follo&in$:-
(a) The /N cab!e connector ,i$ure sho&s a ?C cable connector!
The ?C cable connector is either soldered or crimped to the end of a
cable!
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#NC cable connectors
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(b) The /N T connector! ,i$ure sho&s a ?C T connector! This
connector 9oins the net&or# interface card (IC) in the computer to the
net&or# cable!
#NC $ connector
(c) The /N barre! connector! ,i$ure sho&s a ?C barrel
connector! This connector is used to 9oin t&o len$ths of thinnet cable to
ma#e one lon$er len$th!
#NC barrel connector
(d) The /N ter%inator ,i$ure sho&s a ?C terminator! A ?C
terminator closes each end of the bus cable to absorb stray (&ander
a&ay) si$nals!
#NC terminator
Note! The ori$in of the acronym 2?C2 is unclear( and there ha'e been many
names ascribed to these letters( from 2?ritish a'al Connector2 to 2?ayonet eill-
Councelman!2 ?ecause there is no consensus on the proper name and because
the technolo$y industry uni'ersally refers to these simply as ?C-type
connectors( in this boo# &e &ill refer to this family of hard&are simply as ?C!
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0iber#O&tic ab!e o%&osition
@! In fiber-optic cable( optical fibers carry di$ital data si$nals in the form of
modulated pulses of li$ht! o electrical impulses are carried o'er the fiber-optic
cable! This means that fiber optic cable cannot be tapped( and its data cannot be
stolen! ,iber-optic cable is $ood for 'ery hi$h-speed( hi$h-capacity data
transmission because of the purity of the si$nal and lac# of si$nal attenuation! An
optical fiber consists of an e*tremely thin cylinder of $lass( called the core(
surrounded by a concentric layer of $lass( #no&n as the claddin! The fibers are
sometimes made of plastic! ?ecause each $lass strand passes si$nals in only
one direction( a cable includes t&o strands in separate 9ac#ets! >ne strand
transmits and one recei'es! See ,i$ure for an illustration of fiber-optic cable!
,iber-optic cables are encased in a plastic coatin$ for protection!
%iber-optic cable
A! ,iber-optic cable transmissions are not sub9ect to electrical interference
and are e*tremely fast( currently transmittin$ about )77 %bps &ith demonstrated
rates of up to ) $i$abit per second (=bps)! They can carry a si$nalBthe li$ht
pulseBfor many miles!
Network Devices
;! These days there is a plethora of net&or#in$ products to consider &hen
plannin$ your net&or# infrastructure! There are de'ices for e'erythin$ from
connectin$ computer systems to the net&or# to e*tendin$ a topolo$yCs
specifications for controllin$ net&or# traffic! Sometimes your choices are limited!
,or e*ample( to connect an office computer to the net&or#( you must ha'e a
net&or# card! %any of these de'ices( &hen used correctly( can also help to
impro'e your net&or# security! In this section( &eCll ta#e a loo# at some common
net&or#in$ hard&are and discuss &hich can be used to reinforce your security
posture!
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H'bs
)7! Dubs are probably the most common piece of net&or# hard&are ne*t to
net&or# interface cards! /hysically( they are bo*es of 'aryin$ si:es that ha'e
multiple female R8-16 connectors! Each connector is desi$ned to accept one
t&isted-pair cable outfitted &ith a male R8-16 connector! This t&isted-pair cable
is then used to connect a sin$le ser'er or &or#station to the hub! Dubs are
essentially multi-port repeaters that support t&isted-pair cables in a star typolo$y!
Each node communicates &ith the hub( &hich in turn amplifies the si$nal and
transmits it out( each of the ports( (includin$ bac# out to the transmittin$ system)!
Dubs also &or# at the electrical le'el! Three types are :-
A "ub is t"e central point in a star topolo&
(a) Active h'bs1 %ost hubs are acti'eE that is( they re$enerate
and retransmit si$nals in the same &ay as a repeater does! ?ecause hubs
usually ha'e ei$ht to t&el'e ports for net&or# computers to connect to(
they are sometimes called multiport repeaters! Acti'e hubs re3uire
electrical po&er to run!
(b) $assive h'bs1 Some types of hubs are passi'eE e*amples
include &irin$ panels or punch-do&n bloc#s! They act as connection
points and do not amplify or re$enerate the si$nalE the si$nal passes
throu$h the hub! /assi'e hubs do not re3uire electrical po&er to run!
(c) H2brid h'bs1 Ad'anced hubs that &ill accommodate se'eral
different types of cables are called "&brid "ubs!
/ridges
))! Althou$h brid$es as distinct pieces of hard&are are a relic of the past(
their functionality is still retained in todayCs switc"es' To better understand that
functionality( ho&e'er( it &ill help to re'ie& &hat brid$es &ere! Essentially a
brid$e &as a small bo* &ith t&o net&or# connectors that attached to t&o
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H'b
H'b
/ridg
e
$ort A $ort /
Thoth )oe
*'e
/ett2 + separate collision domains

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separate portions of the net&or#( a brid$e incorporated the functionality of a hub
(si$nal amplification)( but it actually loo#ed at the frames of data( &hich &as a
$reat benefit!
)+! ?rid$es put this frame header information to use by monitorin$ the source
and destination %AC address in each frame of data! ?y monitorin$ the source
address( the brid$e learns &here all the net&or# systems are located! It
constructs a table( listin$ &hich %AC addresses are directly accessible by each
of its ports! It then uses that information to play traffic cop and re$ulate the flo&
of data on the net&or#!
).! ,or as lon$ as the brid$e remembers each stationCs %AC address( all
communications are isolated! $raffic isolation is a po&erful featureE systems on
both sides of the brid$e can carry on con'ersations at the same time( effecti'ely
doublin$ the a'ailable band&idth! The brid$e ensures that communications on
both sides stay isolated( as if they &ere not e'en connected! ?ecause stations
cannot see transmissions on the other side of the brid$e( they assume the
net&or# is free and send their data!
T&o separate
collision domains
)1! Each system needs to contend for band&idth only &ith systems on its o&n
se$ment! There is no wa& for a station to ha'e a collision outside its se$ment!
Thus( these se$ments are referred to as collision domains! otice that one port
on each side of the brid$e is part of each collision domain! This is because each
of its ports &ill contend for band&idth &ith the systems to &hich it is directly
connected! ?ecause the brid$e isolates traffic &ithin each collision domain( there
is no &ay for separated systems to collide their si$nals! The effect is a doublin$
of potential band&idth!
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*witches
)6! S&itches embody the marria$e of hub and brid$e technolo$y! They
resemble hubs in appearance( ha'in$ multiple R8-16 connectors for connectin$
net&or# systems! Instead of bein$ dumb amplifier li#e a hub( ho&e'er( a s&itch
functions as thou$h it has a little miniature brid$e built into each port! A s&itch
#eeps trac# of the %AC addresses attached to each of its ports and routes traffic
destined for a certain address only to the port to &hich it is attached! ,i$ure +!+.
sho&s a s&itched en'ironment in &hich each de'ice is connected to a dedicated
port! The s&itch learns the %AC identification of each station once a sin$le frame
transmission occurs (identical to a brid$e)!
)<! There are some interestin$ thin$s about this situation! The first is that
each &ire run in'ol'es only the s&itch and the station attached to it! Each
collision domain is limited to only these t&o de'ices( because each port of the
s&itch is actin$ li#e a brid$e! The only traffic seen by the &or#stations and
ser'ers is any frame specifically sent to them or to the broadcast address! This is
a po&erful feature that $oes a lon$ &ay to&ard increasin$ potential band&idth! If
this is a )7 %bps topolo$y( the effecti'e throu$hput has 9ust increased by a factor
of .! All three sets of systems can carry on their con'ersations simultaneously(
because the s&itch isolates them from one another! Althou$h the net&or# is still
technically )7 %bps Ethernet( potential throu$hput has increased to .7 %bps!
*erver 8
*erver 7
*erver 9
*witch
*tation 8 *tation 7 *tation 9
4A s&itch installation sho&in$ three &or#stations and three ser'ers5
Note! ?rid$es( s&itches and similar net&or#in$ de'ices are desi$ned primarily
to impro'e net&or# performance( not to impro'e security! Increased security is
9ust a secondary benefit! These de'ices ha'e not recei'ed the same type of
abusi'e( real &orld testin$ as( say( a fire&all or a router product! A s&itch can
au$ment your security policy( but it should not be the core de'ice to implement it!
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(D*L :Digita! *'bscriber Line;
)@! DSF or *DSF( is a family of technolo$ies that pro'ide di$ital data
transmission o'er the &ires of a local telephone net&or#! DSF ori$inally stood for
digita! s'bscriber !oo&( althou$h in recent years( the term digita! s'bscriber
!ine has been &idely adopted as a more mar#etin$-friendly term for ADSF( &hich
is the most popular 'ersion of consumer-ready DSF! DSF uses hi$h fre3uency(
&hile re$ular telephone uses lo& fre3uency on the same telephone line!
Typically( the do&nload speed of consumer DSF ser'ices ran$es from +6< Gbps
to +1(777 Gbps( dependin$ on DSF technolo$y( line conditions and ser'ice le'el
implemented! Typically( upload speed is lo&er than do&nload speed!
*DSF modem
Lesson *'%%ar2
)A! The follo&in$ points summari:e the main elements of the lesson:-
(a) et&or# interface card (IC) pro'ides the physical connection
bet&een the cable and the computer!
(b) ICs prepare( send( recei'e and control data flo&!
(c) >nly three ma9or $roups of cablin$ connect the ma9ority of
net&or#s: T&isted-pair( Co-a*ial and ,iber-optic!
(d) ,iber-optic cable carries data si$nals in the form of modulated
pulses of li$ht hence it cannot be tapped and data cannot be stolen!
($) (ub is the most common piece of net&or#in$ hard&areE they can
be acti'e( passi'e or hybrid!
(h) S&itches embody the marria$e of hub and brid$e technolo$y!
(9) DSF uses hi$h fre3uency( &hile re$ular telephone uses lo&
fre3uency on the same telephone line!
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