N A LAN is a group of microcomputers or other workstation devices located in the same general area and connected by a common cable. Bus Ring Star LAN Protocols Ethernet Ethernet is the most widely-installed local area network technology. Now specified in a standard, IEEE 802.3, Ethernet was originally developed by Xerox and then developed further by Xerox, DEC, and Intel. An Ethernet LAN typically uses coaxial cable or special grades of twisted pair wires. The most commonly installed Ethernet systems are called 10BASE-T and provide transmission speeds up to 10 Mbps.
Ethernet is one of the most popular types of networking protocol around.
The token ring protocol is the second most widely-used protocol on local area networks after Ethernet. The IBM Token Ring protocol led to a standard version, specified as IEEE 802.5. Both protocols are used and are very similar. The IEEE 802.5 token ring technology provides for data transfer rates of either 4 or 16 megabits per second. 3.The frame is then examined by each successive workstation.