Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
If you have a station wired with Category 5 or better cable that is more than 328 feet (100 meters)
from a hub, you must use a hub or switch that acts as a repeater to regenerate the signal. If you have
two or more stations beyond the 328 foot limit of UTP Ethernet, connect them to a hub or switch that
is less than 328 feet away from the primary hub or switch and connect the new hub or switch to the
primary hub or switch via its uplink port. Because hubs and switches can act as repeaters, this feature
enables you to extend the effective length of your network.
Wired Network Topologies
Each computer on the network is connected to the other computers with cable (or some other medium,
such as wireless using radio frequency signals). The physical arrangement of the cables connecting
computers on a network is called the network topology .
The three basic topologies used in computer networks have been as follows:
Bus —Connects each computer on a network directly to the next computer in a linear fashion.
The network connection starts at the server and ends at the last computer in the network.
(Obsolete.)
Star —Connects each computer on the network to a central access point.
Ring —Connects each computer to the others in a loop or ring. (Obsolete.)
Hybrid topologies mix two or more topologies together. Two typical examples include star-bus,
when two star networks are connected by a single cable, usually between the switches of each star;
and a hierarchical star, which connects multiple star networks to one master switch.
Table 17.7 summarizes the relationships between network types and topologies.
Table 17.7. Network Cable Types and Topologies
The bus, star, and ring topologies are discussed in the following sections. Wireless networking,
which technically doesn't have a physical topology as described here, does still employ two logical
 
 
 
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