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Networking Hardware Essentials: Installation, Configuration, and Troubleshooting

Learn about LAN connectivity hardware, network adapters, and troubleshooting techniques. Explore various types of network adapters and their installation procedures. Discover IRQ assignments and the importance of CMOS in networking hardware.

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Networking Hardware Essentials: Installation, Configuration, and Troubleshooting

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  1. Chapter Six Networking Hardware

  2. Objectives • Identify functions of LAN connectivity hardware • Install and configure a network adapter (network interface card) • Identify problems associated with connectivity hardware

  3. Objectives • Describe the factors involved in choosing a network adapter, hub, switch, or router • Describe the functions of repeaters, hubs, bridges, switches, and gateways • Describe the uses and types of routing protocols

  4. Network Adapters • Also called network interface cards (NICs) • Connectivity devices enabling a workstation, server, printer, or other node to receive and transmit data over the network media • In most modern network devices, network adapters contain the data transceiver

  5. Types of Network Adapters • For a desktop or tower PC, network adapter is likely to be a type of expansion board • Expansion boards connect to the system board through expansion slots • The circuit used by the system board to transmit data to the computer’s components is the computer’s bus

  6. Types of Network Adapters • PC bus types you may encounter: • Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) • MicroChannel Architecture (MCA) • Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) • Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Figure 6-1: The four primary bus architectures

  7. Types of Network Adapters Figure 6-2: A system board with multiple bus types

  8. Types of Network Adapters • PCMIA • Developed in early 1990s to provide standard interface for connecting any type of device to a portable computer • More commonly known as PC Cards Figure 6-3: Typical PC Card network adapter

  9. Types of Network Adapters • USB (universal serial bus) port • Standard external bus that can be used to connect multiple types of peripherals Figure 6-4: A USB network adapter

  10. Types of Network Adapters Figure 6-5: A parallel port network adapter

  11. Types of Network Adapters Figure 6-6: Wireless network adapters

  12. Types of Network Adapters Figure 6-7: A variety of Ethernet network adapters

  13. Types of Network Adapters Figure 6-8: Token Ring network adapters

  14. Types of Network Adapters Figure 6-9: Ethernet network adapters for printers

  15. Installing Network Adapters • To install modern network adapters, first install hardware, then install software shipped with NIC • In some cases you must perform a third step: • Configure the firmware • Electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) • Type of ROM found on a circuit board • Configuration information can be erased and rewritten through electrical pulses

  16. Installing and Configuring Network Adapter Hardware Figure 6-10: A properly inserted network adapter

  17. Installing and Configuring Network Adapter Hardware Figure 6-11: Installing a PC Card network adapter

  18. Installing and Configuring Network Adapter Hardware • Jumper • Small, removable piece of plastic that contains a metal receptacle Figure 6-12: A jumper and a row of pins indicating two different settings

  19. Installing and Configuring Network Adapter Hardware • DIP switch • Small, plastic toggle switch that represents “on” or “off” status Figure 6-13: DIP switches on a NIC

  20. Installing and Configuring Network Adapter Software • Ensure that the correct device driver is installed for the network adapter and that it is configured properly • Device driver • Software that enables an attached device to communicate with computer’s operating system

  21. Installing and Configuring Network Adapter Software Figure 6-14: Windows 2000 Upgrade Device Driver Wizard

  22. IRQ (Interrupt Request Line) • Message to the computer that instructs it to stop what it is doing and pay attention to something else • An interrupt is the wire on which a device issues voltage to signal this request • Each interrupt must have a unique IRQ number

  23. IRQ (Interrupt Request Line) Table 6-1: IRQ assignments

  24. IRQ (Interrupt Request Line) • When two devices attempt to use the same IRQ, any of the following problems may occur: • Computer may lock up or “hang” either upon starting or when operating system is loading • Computer may run much slower than usual • Though computer’s network adapter may work properly, other devices may stop working • Video or sound card problems may occur • Computer may fail to connect to the network • Computer may experience intermittent data errors during transmission

  25. IRQ (Interrupt Request Line) Figure 6-15: Computer resource settings in Windows 2000

  26. IRQ (Interrupt Request Line) • CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) • Firmware on a PC’s system board that enables you to change its devices’ configurations • Information saved in CMOS is used by the computer’s BIOS (basic input/output system) • BIOS is a simple set of instructions enabling a computer to initially recognize its hardware

  27. Memory Range and Base I/O Port • Memory range • Hexadecimal number indicating the area memory that the network adapter and CPU will use for exchanging, or buffering, the data • Base I/O port • Setting that specifies, in hexadecimal notation, which area of memory will act as a channel for moving data between the network adapter and CPU

  28. Firmware Settings • Once you have adjusted the network adapter’s system resources, you may need to modify its transmission characteristics • These settings are held in the adapter’s firmware • Loopback plug • Plugs into port and crosses over the transmit line to the receive line so that the outgoing signal can be redirected back into the computer for testing

  29. Choosing the Right Network Adapter Table 6-2: Network adapter characteristics

  30. Repeaters • Connectivity devices that regenerate and amplify an analog or digital signal Figure 6-16: Repeaters

  31. Hubs • Multiport repeater containing multiple ports to interconnect multiple devices Figure 6-17: Detailed diagram of a hub

  32. Hubs • Elements shared by most hubs: • Ports • Uplink port • Port for management console • Backbone port • Link LED

  33. Hubs • Elements shared by most hubs (cont.): • Traffic (transmit or receive) LED • Collision LED (Ethernet hubs only) • Power supply • Ventilation fan

  34. Hubs Figure 6-18: Hubs in a network design

  35. Hubs • Passive hubs • Only repeats signal • Intelligent hubs • Possesses processing capabilities

  36. Standalone Hubs • Hubs that serve a group of computers that are isolated from the rest of the network • Best suited to small, independent departments, home offices, or test lab environments • Disadvantage to using a single hub for many connection ports is that it introduces a single point of failure on the network

  37. Stackable Hubs • Physically designed to be linked with other hubs in a single telecommunications closet Figure 6-21: Rack-mounted stackable hubs Figure 6-20: Stackable hubs

  38. Modular Hubs and Intelligent Hubs • Modular hubs • Provide a number of interface options within one chassis • Intelligent hubs • Also called managed hubs • Network administrators can store the information generated by intelligent hubs in a MIB (management information base)

  39. Installing a Hub • As with network adapters, the best way to ensure a hub is properly installed is to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines Figure 6-22: Connecting a workstation to a hub

  40. Choosing the Right Hub • Factors to consider when selecting the right hub for your network: • Performance • Cost • Size and growth • Security • Management benefits • Reliability

  41. Bridges • Like a repeater, a bridge has a single input and single output port • Unlike a repeater, it can interpret the data it retransmits Figure 6-23: A bridge

  42. Bridges • Filtering database • Collection of data created and used by a bridge that correlates the MAC addresses of connected workstations with their locations • Also known as a forwarding table Figure 6-24: A bridge’s use of a filtering database

  43. Bridges • Spanning tree algorithm • Routine that can detect circular traffic patterns and modify the way multiple bridges work together, in order to avoid such patterns • Transparent bridging • Method used on many Ethernet networks • Source-route bridging • Method used on most Token Ring networks • Translation bridging • Method that can use different logical topologies

  44. Switches • Subdivide a network into smaller logical pieces Figure 6-25: Examples of LAN switches

  45. Cut-Through Mode andStore and Forward Mode • Cut-through mode • Switching mode in which switch reads a frame’s header and decides where to forward the data before it receives the entire packet • Cut-through switches can detect runts, or packet fragments • Store and forward mode • Switching mode in which switch reads the entire data frame into its memory and checks it for accuracy before transmitting the information

  46. Using Switches to Create VLANs • Virtual local area networks (VLANs) • Network within a network that is logically defined by grouping its devices’ switch ports in the same broadcast domain • Broadcast domain • Combination of ports that make up a Layer 2 segment and must be connected by a Layer 3 device

  47. Using Switches to Create VLANs Figure 6-26: A simple VLAN design

  48. Higher-Layer Switches • Switch capable of interpreting Layer 3 data is called a Layer 3 switch • Switch capable of interpreting Layer 4 data is called a Layer 4 switch • These higher-layer switches may also be called routing switches or application switches

  49. Routers • Multiport connectivity device • Can integrate LANs and WANs running at different transmission speeds and using a variety of protocols • Routers operate at the Network layer (Layer 3) of the OSI Model

  50. Router Features and Functions • Modular router • Router with multiple slots that can hold different interface cards or other devices Figure 6-27: Routers

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