A NIC slots inside a computer much like a sound card. This term describes the standard for almost all basic networks and specifies nauseating details such as wiring procedure, how information is encoded into electrical pulses and rules regulating the flow of those pulses. Ethernet cables most often use connecting plugs called RJ45 which look like overweight phone plugs. Fancy word describing the layout and design of the cabling which links computers. Your network cabling system is star-shaped.
Star topology is the most common form of modern LANs.
Your network cabling system is linear using a long piece of cable with computers attached at various intervals, much like a bus route with bus stops along the way. Like the hub of a wagon wheel with a computer at the end of each spoke. An Ethernet network with a star topology needs a hub to connect all the cables together. A set of rules and standards used by computers to communicate. Protocols for computers are like languages for people.