LAN Cabling, HUB’s, Switches, LAN Adapters
Local Area Networking
A LAN is a Local Area Network and it consists of the wiring, LAN Adapters (cards) in the
computers, the HUB’s and Switches and the Cabling to join them all
together. Virtually all LAN’s are now
based on the Ethernet IP (internet protocol) standard (called the TCP/IP
protocol). The original standard was
called 10-Base T Ethernet for 10 mbps (10 mega bits per second). But now the piece parts of the network are
rated to carry 10 or 100 or 1000 mbps of data.
Sometimes the 1000 mbps is referred to as 1GB (one gigabyte) Ethernet.
CABLES should be kept cables orderly and
in conduits or attached to walls so that they do not create trip hazards and so
your office looks organized to potential clients.
A HUB is used to join computers together in a LAN. The number of ports is the number of
computers that can be connected to the HUB.
A 10 mbps HUB has the disadvantage of only being able to handle a maximum
of 10 mbps throughput regardless of the number of computers attached to the
HUB. This problem is solved by the
SWITCH.
LAN Adapter cards are rarely needed anymore
since the LAN adapters are usually now built in on the motherboards (main
circuit board).
MULTI-HOMING or DUAL
WAN (Wide Area
Network) devices allow you greater bandwidth and a backup internet access with
automatic fail-over. Click here for more
information.
NAT (Network Address Translator). To the outside world this device makes it
look like you are using one single IP address.
But to your internal LAN, you can have many IP addresses, a different IP
address for every workstation. This
device allows you to have many workstations share a single IP address for
internet access AND it shields your internal IP addresses from the outside
world making your network more secure.
A SWITCH is like a HUB, joining computers together, but a switch will
allow maximum throughput for each connection.
You should purchase a SWITCH with at least one 1 GB connection so that
the connection from the switch to the server has adequate throughput. Get a switch with NAT (see above) and
multi-homing (see above).
RECOMMENDATIONS. Use wiring that will support 1GB Ethernet
(Cat 5e or Cat 6 wiring). Use a SWITCH
instead of a HUB. Use a multi-homing
switch that with do NAT. Netgear brand
SWITCH’s are widely used by our clients and have a rich feature set.