Jason John Schwarz LANs Networks are collections of separate computers that communicate with each other over a common cable or radio medium. Ethernet Ethernet is the most popular LAN technology currently in use. The IEEE Standard 802.3 defines the rules for configuring Ethernet as well as the protocol that allow the computers to communicate. Protocols Network protocols are standards that allow computers to communicate with each other. A protocol defines how the computers should identify each other on the network , the form that the data should take in transit, and how the information should be reconstructed once it reaches its final destination.
Protocols also define how to handle damaged transmissions.
Although each protocol is different, they all use the physical cabling in the same manner, which allows them to peacefully coexist. Media and Topologies One of the most important parts of designing and installing a network is deciding on which cabling medium and wiring topology to use. A bus topology consists of nodes connected together by a single long cable. The major disadvantage is that any break in the cable will cause all nodes on the cable to loose connection to the network. A star topology links exactly two nodes together on the network.