A network that interconnects devices over a geographically small area, typically in one building or a part of a building. The most popular LAN type is Ethernet. LANs allow the sharing of resources and the exchange of both video and data.
- Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
Refers collectively to all types of digital subscriber lines, the two main categories being ADSL and SDSL. Two other types of xDSL technologies are High-data-rate DSL (HDSL) and Very high DSL (VDSL).
- Firewall
This refers to the network device that is designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both. Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet, especially intranets. There are several types of firewall techniques and firewalls may implement one or more simultaneously. Packet filtering inspects inbound and outbound packets, validating against defined business rules. Application gateways apply security rules against applications. Circuit-level gateways apply security rules against physical connection attempts to and from the network. Proxy servers mask the internal requestor by inspecting and augmenting the packet header. Four common architectures of firewalls include the packet filtering router, the screened host firewall system, the dual homed host firewall, and the screened subnet firewall (with a DMZ), which is one of the most secure implementations.
- Gateway
Gateways are points of entrance to and exit from a communications network. Viewed as a physical entity, a gateway is that node that translates between two otherwise incompatible networks or network segments
- Hub
A common connection point for devices in a network. Hubs are commonly used to connect segments of a LAN. A hub contains multiple ports. When a packet arrives at one port, it is copied to the other ports so that all segments of the LAN can see all packets.
- Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
ISDN is a system of digital phone connections which has been available for over a decade. This system allows data to be transmitted simultaneously across the world using end-to-end digital connectivity.
- Network Interface Card (NIC)
Often abbreviated as NIC, an expansion board you insert into a computer so the computer can be connected to a network. Most NICs are designed for a particular type of network, protocol, and media, although some can serve multiple networks.
- Router
A device or setup that finds the best route between any two networks, even if there are several networks to traverse. Like bridges, remote sites can be connected using routers over dedicated or switched lines to create WANs.
- Switch
In networks, a device that filters and forwards packets between LAN segments. Switches operate at the data link layer (layer 2) and sometimes the network layer (layer 3) of the OSI Reference Model and therefore support any packet protocol. LANs that use switches to join segments are called switched LANs or, in the case of Ethernet networks, switched Ethernet LANs.
- T1/T3
T1 service delivers 1.544 Mbps. Typically channelized into 24 DS0s, each capable of carrying a single voice conversation or data stream. The European T1 or E1 transmission rate is 2.048 million bits per second. A T3 circuit communicates at 45 Mbps, or 28 T1 lines.
- Transceivers
Short for transmitter-receiver, a device that both transmits and receives analog or digital signals. The term is used most frequently to describe the component in local-area networks (LANs) that actually applies signals onto the network wire and detects signals passing through the wire. For many LANs, the transceiver is built into the network interface card (NIC). Some types of networks, however, require an external transceiver.
