Glossary of Terms for Bridges & Routers
International Telecommunications Union. An international organization that develops and defines communications standards.
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MNP (Microcom Networking Protocol): A family of communications protocols from Microcom, Inc.
AT&T: Communications protocols from AT&T.
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DB-15: A high-density DB-15 connector is used for the VGA port on a PC.
DB-25: A DB-25 connector is usually used for the 2nd serial port (COM2), often connected to a modem, as well as the parallel port (see printer cable). Furthermore,DB-25s are used in a wide variety of communications devices.
RJ-45: A telephone connector that holds up to eight wires. RJ-45 plugs and are used in Ethernet and Token Ring Type 3 devices.
RJ-48: Uses the same plug and sockets as the RJ-45, but has different pinouts.
Full-Duplex: The transmission of data in two directions simultaneously.
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is the amount of digital data that is moved from one place to another in a given time.
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Also called Flash Ram, it is an erasable, re-writable memory chip that holds data without power.
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A band of radio frequencies over which signals are transmitted. The higher the number, the stronger the signal is.
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The amount of memory measured in megabytes installed in the system's hardware.
32 MB:
1600 x 1200 Resolution = 108 pictures
1024 x 768 Resolution = 174 pictures
640 x 480 Resolution = 337 pictures
64 MB:
1600 x 1200 Resolution = 217 pictures
1024 x 768 Resolution = 349 pictures
640 x 480 Resolution = 677 pictures
128 MB:
1600 x 1200 Resolution = 435 pictures
1024 x 768 Resolution = 700 pictures
640 x 480 Resolution = 1355 pictures
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USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a plug-and-play interface between a computer and add-on devices (such as audio players, joysticks, keyboards, telephones, scanners, and printers). With USB, a new device can be added to your computer without having toadd an adapter card or even having to turn the computer off. The USB peripheral bus standard was developed by Compaq, IBM, DEC, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, and Northern Telecom.
FIrewire(IEEE 1394) High Performance Serial Bus, is an electronics standard for connecting devices to your personal computer. IEEE 1394 provides asingleplug-and-socket connection on which up to 63 devices can be attached with data transfer speeds up to 400 Mbps (megabits per second). The standard describes a serial bus or pathway between one or more peripheral devices and your computer's microprocessor.Many peripheral devices now come equipped to meet IEEE 1394. Two popular implementations of IEEE 1394 are Apple's FireWire and Sony's i.LINK.
Parallel A multi-line channel that transfers one or more bytes simultaneously. Desktops and laptops generally connect printers. Using a Centronics parallel interface.
IEEE 1284 an enhanced parallel port that is compatible with the Centronics port commonly used onPCs. allowing the componets of multifunction devices such as printers, scanner, and fax mechines the ability to be addressed independently .
RJ-45 (Registered Jack-45) A telephone connector that contains up to 8 wires.. RJ-45 plugs are used inEthernet and Token Ring Type 3 devices
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The speed at which the network device is able to transfer data.
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The maximum indoor range at which the NIC will operate efficiently.
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The maximum outdoor range at which the NIC will operate efficiently.
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WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy): An 802.11 security protocol for wireless networks. This encryption method was designed to give wireless networks the same security as wired networks.
NAT (Network Address Translation): NAT conserves public IP addresses, and also serves as one type of firewall by keeping internal addresses hidden.
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AppleTalk: Apple's networking infrastructure, integrated into most Apple system software, that allows Apple systems to participate in peer to peer computer networks and to also access the services of AppleTalk servers.
10BaseT (Ethernet): 10Mbps Ethernet standard that uses a regular telephone wire (twisted wire pairs). Even thoughit has been widely used due to low cost and flexibility issues, it has mostly been superseded by 100BaseT, which is 10 times faster.
100BaseT (Fast Ethernet): This is also called Fast Ethernet. 100Mbps version of the Ethernet standard. It transmits at 100Mbps insteadof 10Mbps. Three cabling variations exist of 100BaseT
Wi-Fi (802.11b): The first wireless LAN standard, which operates at 1-11 Mbps and
in the unlicensed 2.4GHz band.
Wi-Fi (802.11a): A wireless LAN standard that mostly superseded 802.11b. It operates at a speed of up to 54Mbps and is not backwards compatible with 802.11b.
Wireless-G (802.11g): A wireless LAN standard that is compatible with 802.11a infrastructures and operates at a speed of up to 54 Mbps.
USB (Universal Serial Bus): A plug-and-play interface between a computer and add-on devices (such asaudio players, joysticks, keyboards, telephones, scanners, and printers). With USB, a new device can be added to your computer without having toadd an adapter card or even having to turn the computer off. The USB peripheral bus standard was developed by Compaq, IBM, DEC, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, and Northern Telecom.
TCP (Transmission Control Protocol): A part of the transport protocol TCP/IP, that ensures that a message is sent accurately and in its entirety.
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol): TCP/IP is a routable protocol; all messages contain the address of the destination station and the address of a destination network. This allows TCP/IP messages to be sent to multiple networks (subnets) within anorganization or around the world.
IP (Internet Protocol): The network layer protocol part in TCP/IP. It contains a network address and allows messages to be routed to a different network (subnet).
IPX (Internetwork Packet EXchange): The network layer protocol in the NetWare operating system. Its function is very similar to the IP layer in TCP/IP, as it contains a network address and allows messages to be routed to a different network (subnet). Either the application has to ensure delivery of the entire message or NetWare's SPX protocol must be used.
NetBEUI (NetBIOS Extended User Interface): The transport layer for NetBIOS, which is no longer used by Windows XP.
NetBIOS: The native networking protocol in DOS and Windows networks. You can identify a NetBIOS computer by its unique 15-character name. For TCP/IP networks, NetBIOS names are turned into IP addresses.
SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol): A very popular network monitoring and control protocol. Data is sent through SNMP agents, and in turn these agents return information defining what is obtainable from the device (hub, router, etc.) and what can be controlled (turned off, on, etc.).
SPX (Sequenced Packet EXchange): The transport layer protocol in the NetWare operating system. Its function is very similar to the TCP layer in TCP/IP, as it ensures that the entire message arrives intact.
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Ethernet: 10BaseT connection that transfers at 10 Mbps
Fast Ethernet: 100BaseT connection that transfers at 100 Mbps
Gigabit Ethernet: 1000BaseT connection that transfers at a 1Gbps rate.
IEEE 1394: Allows tranfers from 800 Mbps to 3,200 Mpbs and is compatible with glass, fiber and cat5 cable.
Bluetooth: Wireless network connection with 720 kbps transfer rate at a range of 10 -100 meters.
802.11b: Wireless connection with a transfer rate of11 Mbps in a 2.4 Ghz band.
802.11a: Wireless connection with a transfer rate of 54 Mbps in a 5 Ghz band.
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10Base2: An older 10Mbps Ethernet standard. It uses a thin coaxial cable to transmit data. Has a distance limitation of 607 feet.
10Base5: The original 10Mbps Ethernet standard. It uses a thick coaxial cable to transmit data. Has adistance limitation of 1,640 feet.
10BaseF: Another 10Mbps Ethernet standard. It uses optical fibers to transmit data.
10BaseT: Another 10Mbps Ethernet standard that uses a regular telephone wire (twisted wire pairs). Even thoughit has been widely used due to low cost and flexibility issues, it has mostly been superseded by 100BaseT, which is 10 times faster.
100BaseT: This is also called Fast Ethernet. 100Mbps version of the Ethernet standard. It transmits at 100Mbps instead of 10Mbps. Three cabling variations exist of 100BaseT
100BaseFX: This is a cabling variation of 100BaseT. It uses multimode optical fibers and is primarily intended for backbone use.
100BaseTX: This is a cabling variation of 100BaseT. It uses two pairs of category 5 twisted pair cable.
1000BaseT: Also called Gigabit Ethernet. It is definitley faster than 100BaseT Fast Ethernet, as it can transmit data at a speed of 1 Gbps. 1000BaseT can also run over a Category 5 copper cable (Cat5), which allows Gigabit Ethernet prodcuts to be readily installed ona 100BaseT network without any cable changes.
1000BaseLX: This is a cabling variation of 1000BaseT. It uses long wavelength laser transmitters over fiber optic cable.
1000BaseSX: This is a cabling variation of 1000BaseT. It uses short wavelength laser transmitters over fiber optic cable.
1000BaseX: This is a the name for the group cabling variations: 1000Base-CX, 1000Base-LX, and 1000Base-SX.
Wi-Fi (802.11b): The first wireless LAN standard, which operates at 1-11 Mbps and
in the unlicensed 2.4GHz band.
Wi-Fi (802.11a): A wireless LAN standard that mostly superseded 802.11b. It operates at a speed of up to 54Mbps and is not backwards compatible with 802.11b.
Wireless-G (802.11g): A wireless LAN standard that is compatible with 802.11a infrastructures and operates at a speed of up to 54 Mbps.
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DMI (Desktop Management Interface): A PC management system where hardware and software configurations can be monitored from a central station in the network.
HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol): The communications protocol used to connect to servers on the Web.
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RIP (Routing Information Protocol): A routing protocol that is part of the TCP/IP protocol suite. AppleTalk, DECnet, TCP/IP, NetWare and VINES all use versions of RIP. RIP broadcasts routing information to neighboring routers and is known to waste bandwidth.
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Ability to select differenct frequency channels in cases of bad reception.
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A radio technique that continuously alters its transmission pattern by constantly changing frequencies or by constantly changing the data pattern.
DSSS (Direct sequence spread spectrum): Basis for CDMA cellphones and 802.11 wireless transmission. This spreads the data into a large coded stream that occupies the full bandwidth of the channel.
OFDM (Orthogonal FDM): Spread spectrum technique that distributes the data over a large number of carriers that are spaced apart at specific frequencies.
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Indicators that indicate the status of a network connection. Usually in the form of LED lights and/or software.
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Ethernet: 10BaseT connection that transfers at 10 Mbps
ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode): Very fast packet switching connection type in which data is carried in fixed length units called "cells". Usually used to set up virtual circuits between users; a pair of users can appear to have a dedicated circuit.
X.25: The first international standard packet switching network developed in the 1970s. No longer in use by US standards.
SMDS (Switched Multimegabit Data Service): A high-speed communications service offered by local telephone companies for interconnecting LANs in different locations.
Token Ring: A local area network (LAN) protocol defined in the IEEE 802.5 standard in which computers access the network by waiting to receive a special token frame before transmitting.
PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol): The most popular method for transporting IP packets over a serial link between the user and the ISP.
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