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Foundation Topics
Media
Network Infrastructure Devices
Specialized Network Devices
Virtual Network Devices
Voice over IP Protocols and Components
Media
Network media breaks down into three categories:
Copper
Fiber optic
Wireless
Copper
Copper cabling has been used for communication since the
mid-1800s, when the telegraph became widely used.
There are three categories of copper cabling:
Coaxial
Unshielded twisted-pair
Shielded twisted-pair
Coaxial Cable
Coaxial Cable (or coax for short) is composed of two
conductors:
Twisted-Pair Cabling
The most popular physical LAN media type is twisted-pair
cable.
In each cable, there are eight individually insulated strands
of copper wire. Each pair of wire is twisted together to
reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI).
There are two categories of twisted-pair:
Unshielded twisted-pair (UTP)
Shielded twisted-pair (STP)
Unshielded Twisted-Pair
Category 6 cable
Four pairs of insulated
copper wires
Some resistance to EMI
Shielded Twisted-Pair
Category 7 cable.
Four pairs of insulated
copper wires.
Each pair is wrapped in
foil. All four pairs are
wrapped in wire mesh.
Very resistant to EMI.
Twisted-Pair Categories
Category
Maximum
Throughput
Maximum
Distance
Cat 3
10 Mbps
100 meters
Cat 5
100 Mbps
100 meters
Cat 5e
1 Gbps
100 meters
Cat 6
1 Gbps
100 meters
Cat 6a
10 Gbps
100 meters
Cat 7
10 Gbps
100 meters
Fiber-Optic Cabling
Uses light from an LED or laser to transmit information
through a glass fiber.
Two categories of fiber-optic cabling are as follows:
Multimode fiber
Single-mode fiber
Routers to switches
Switches to switches
Servers to switches
Routers to switches
Switches to switches
Fiber-Optic Connectors
SC Subscriber Connector
LC - Lucent connector
Higher bandwidth
Longer distances
Immune to EMI
Better security
Advantages of
Copper Cabling
Less expensive
Easy to install
Inexpensive tools
Cable Distribution
Components
Entrance facilities
MDF (main distribution frame)
Cross-connect facilities
IDF (intermediate distribution frame)
Backbone wiring
Telecommunications closet
Horizontal wiring
Work area
Cable Distribution
Cable Distribution
Cable Distribution
Wireless Technologies
All devices connected to the same AP are considered to be
on the same shared network segment.
Switches
Routers
Hubs
Hubs operated at Layer 1 of the OSI model and were used
to connect multiple network devices.
They are sometimes called multiport repeaters.
Three basic types of Ethernet hubs are as follows:
Passive hub
Active hub
Smart hub
Hubs are essentially obsolete today. They have been
replaced by switches in modern LANs.
Hubs
Bridges
Join two or more LAN segments.
Each LAN segment becomes a separate collision domain.
Bridges analyze source MAC addresses in frames entering
the bridge and populate an internal MAC address table
based on those addresses.
Bridges make intelligent forwarding decisions based on the
destination MAC address in the frame.
Bridges
Switches
Switches are essentially a multiport bridge. They are
usually considered a Layer 2 device.
They learn MAC addresses and make forwarding decisions
based on that information.
Switches analyze source MAC addresses in frames
entering the switch and populate an internal MAC
address table based on those addresses.
Each port represents a collision domain. All ports belong to
the same broadcast domain.
Switches
Routers
Routers are Layer 3 devices. They make forwarding
decisions based on logical network address information,
usually IP addresses.
Each port on a router is a separate collision domain and a
separate broadcast domain.
Routers are typically more feature rich and support a
broader range of interface types.
Routers
Multilayer Switches
Multilayer switches combine features of Layer 2 switches
and Layer 3 routers.
They can make decisions based on both MAC addresses
and IP addresses.
If configured with VLANs (which are discussed in Chapter
4), each port on a multilayer switch can be a collision
domain and a broadcast domain.
Multilayer Switches
Multilayer switch
configured with virtual
LANs (VLANs)
Four collision domains
Four broadcast domains
Number of
Collision Domains
Possible
Number of
OSI Layer of
Broadcast Domains Operation
Possible
Hub
Bridge
1 per port
Switch
1 per port
Multilayer
switch
1 per port
1 per port
3+
Router
1 per port
1 per port
3+
VPN Concentrators
Companies with locations across multiple sites require
secure communications between those sites.
A virtual private network (VPN) creates a secure, virtual
tunnel network over an untrusted network, like the
Internet.
One of the devices that can terminate VPN tunnels is a
VPN concentrator, although firewalls typically perform
this function now.
There is more about VPNs in Chapter 12.
VPN Concentrators
Branch A
VPN
Concentrator
Branch B
VPN
VPN
Concentrator
Concentrator
Headquarters
VPN
Concentrator
Branch C
Firewalls
A firewall is primarily a network security appliance. It
stands guard at the entrance to your network,
protecting it from malicious Internet traffic.
Firewalls can be software or hardware.
Firewalls
DNS Servers
Computers and the internet use numbers not names, but
people recall names better than numbers.
A Domain Name System (DNS) server performs the task
of taking a domain name, like www.ciscopress.com, and
resolving that name into an IP address that is
understood on the network.
This is similar to the contact list on your phone. You rarely
dial your friends phone numbers. Instead, you just click
their name to call them.
DNS Servers
DNS Hierarchy
DHCP Servers
Initially, clients on networks needed IP addresses manually
configured (or statically assigned) to communicate. This
was a hassle and also led to configuration errors.
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
automates the process so the vast majority of devices
on a network receive an IP address automatically.
The key elements assigned through DHCP include the
IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, and
DNS server.
DHCP Servers
Proxy Servers
A proxy server is a device that makes a request on behalf
of a client.
Clients are configured to forward their packets, which are
seemingly destined for the Internet, to a proxy server.
The proxy server evaluates the request; if it has a copy of
the information the client is seeking, it replies with the
cached copy.
If the requested page is not in the cache, the server
forwards the request to the Internet.
Proxy Servers
Content Engines
Content Switches
Virtual Servers
Instead of having several separate physical servers,
virtualization allows multiple virtual instances of
servers to exist on a single powerful server.
A single server can have multiple Microsoft Windows
virtual servers running simultaneously with Linux virtual
servers.
Virtual Servers
Summary
OSI Reference Model
Seven layers
Assists in understanding network processes
TCP/IP Stack
Four layers
Similar purpose as OSI model
Summary
Media
Copper
Fiber optic
Wireless
Switches
Routers
Summary
Specialized Network Devices
VPN concentrators
Firewalls
DNS servers
DHCP servers
Proxy servers
Content engines and switches
Virtual servers