NETWORK users are waiting with bated breath for the arrival of Ridiculously Fast Ethernet. With a speed or bandwidth of 1,000 megabits per second (mbps), it promises to take networking to dizzy heights. But what is Ethernet? It's a protocol for Local Area Networks (LANs): a set of standards that enable different devices on a network to talk to each other. While Ethernet allows a 10 mbps bandwidth, Fast Ethernet clocks 100 mbps.
Other jargon useful for network users:
Network Interface Card (NIC) or Adapter:
A circuit board used to connect the PC to a network or server.
Hub: A network device where the information flow is accumulated and then distributed to various groups and users.
Router: A device that decides which of several possible paths your information packet should follow to reach the addressee quickly. Routers can be used to connect LANs to a Wide Area Network (WAN), as also WAN-WAN and LAN-LAN.
Gateway: A computer that attaches to two or more networks and routes packets from one network to the other.
Dial-Up: A temporary connection between two computers established over telephone lines.
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM): A standard for voice, video or data transmission which works by sending it all in small, fixed size cells.
Packet Switching: A data communication method that breaks up a message into small packets that travel independently of one another to the destination, and then join up in the right order to form the full message.
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN): Communication protocol proposed by global telephone companies to permit telephone networks to carry data, voice and other source material.
Long Distance Communication/ WAN Options: You can use terrestrial, wireless or satellite links or a combination of all three. Options include:
