SOME OF THE MAIN TOPICS IN THIS CHAPTER ARE
One of the most expensive parts about installing a network is the task of pulling network cables. You not only have to make sure that you meet local building codes, but must also spend many hours (and labor is expensive) in dropping cables so that you can install a faceplate at the user 's cubicle or office. From there on, it's an easy task! For modern Ethernet such as 100Mbps, you just run a short cable from the faceplate on the wall to the user's computer. The original Ethernet specifications used coaxial cabling instead of twisted-pair wiring or fiber- optic cables. If you're still using an older network, it might be time to upgrade. Don't get me wrong: If you have a specialized environment, such as automation control on a factory floor, you might not need to upgrade this type of network because data transfers will be miniscule when compared to an office network. However, this chapter assumes that you have an office network, which can eat up network bandwidth at tremendous rates. Not only do you have to provide file servers for such mundane tasks as word processing and other data files, but newer applications such as live video streaming can send 10BASE-2 and 100BASE-T networks to the history pile. Older 10BASE-2 networks used a coaxial cable (referred to by those in the field as thicknet ) as a backbone, and tapped into this cable (using what is popularly called a vampire tap ) to drop a smaller coaxial cable (again with a nickname, thinnet ) to each user's workstation. In an office environment, this type of network is untenable today. Worker productivity is measured in hourly costs. Even a few minutes downloading a document from a file server or creating a report based on data on a remote server costs you money. For an office network, it's time to upgrade.
The topic of this chapter is the office LAN and network enterprise network. Newer applications, from video conferencing to employees who like to waste time browsing through the Internet, require much more bandwidth than older Ethernet technologies such as 10BASE-2 can provide. |