CompTIA Study Guide - Network Types

Local Area Network (LAN)

A group of computers connected by cabling and one or more networks switches that are all installed at a single geographical location.

100BASE-T

Fast Ethernet over copper twisted pair cabling, speeds up to 100 Mbps.

1000BASE-T

Gigabit Ethernet over copper twisted pair cabling, speeds up to 1000 Mbps (1 Gbp).

10GBASE-T

Copper cabling standard working at 10 Gbps.

Wide Area Network (WAN)

Spans multiple geographic locations.

Internet Service Provider (ISP)

A company dedicated to facilitating access to the Internet from local networks.

Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)

Uses radios and antennas for data transmission and reception.

IEEE 802.11

Also known as Wi-Fi.

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

Can be used to mean a specific network type covering an area equivalent to a city or other municipality.

Personal Area Network (PAN)

Using wireless connectivity to connect to devices at a range of a few meters, Bluetooth is an example of a protocol.

Storage Area Network (SAN)

A specialized network that is dedicated to storage devices.

Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) LAN

A small network possibly using a centralized server, in addition to client devices and printers, but often using a single networking appliance to provide LAN and Internet connectivity.

Wireless Access Point (AP)

Where laptops and mobile device connect to the network.

Server computer

A computer dedicated to running network applications and hosting shared resources.

Client computer

Allows end users to access the applications and resources to do work.

Datacenter

A whole site that is dedicated to provisioning server resources.

Network Interface Card (NIC)

The physical connection to the cable is made using a transceiver port, named this.

Media Access Control (MAC) Address

A unique hardware/physical address for an Ethernet NIC.

How many bytes does a MAC address contain?

48

What are the 24 bits starting in a MAC address known as?

Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI)

What are the last 24 bits in a MAC address known as?

Network Interface Controller (NIC) Specific.

Patch Panel

Where the cabling connected to the wall port and then is connected to a computer is connected.

Ethernet Switch

Used to connect multiple devices inside of a network together.

Unmanaged Switch

Preforms its function without requiring any sort of configuration.

Managed Switch

Would work out of the box as an unmanaged switch, though administrators can connect to it over a management port to configure security settings and then choose options for the switch’s more advanced functionality.

Power over Ethernet (PoE)

A means of supplying electrical power from a switch port over ordinary data cabling to a powered device.

802.3af (Type 1 PoE or 2-pair PoE)

Allows powered devices to draw up to about 13 W. Power is supplied as 350mA@48V and limited to 15.4.

802.3at (PoE+ or Type 2 PoE)

Allows powered devices to draw up to about 25 W, with a maximum current of 600 mA.

802.3bt (PoE++, Type 3 and Type 4 PoE, 4PPoE)

Supplies up to about 51 W (Type 3) or 73 W (Type 4) usable power.

PoE switch

Referred to as endspan power sourcing equipment (PSE). When a device is connected to this, it goes through a detection phase to determine whether the device is PoE enabled.

PoE Injector

A device called a “power injector“ (or “midspan“) can be used if a switch doesn’t support PoE.

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)

Being the most popular type of network cable with copper, it consists of four copper conductor wire pairs. Each pair of insulated conductors is twisted at a different rate from the others pairs, which reduces interference.

What’s the maximum cable distance for UTP networking cables?

100 meters

Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)

Provides extra protection against interference, typically a requirement in environments with high levels of external interference, such as cable that must be run in proximity to fluorescent lighting, power lines, motors, and generators.

Category (Cat) Standard

Defines the performance of twisted-pair cabling.

What are the Cat specifications defined in?

TIA/EIA-568-C.

Cat 5

Speeds of 100 Mbps, max distance of 100 meters, labeled as 100BASE-TX (Fast Ethernet)

Cat 5e

Speeds of 1 Gbps, max distance of 100 meters, labeled as 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet)

Cat 6

Speeds of 1 to 10 Gbps, max distance of 100 to 55 meters, labeled accordingly as 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet) or 10GBASE-T (10G Ethernet)

Cat 6A

Speeds of 10 Gbps, max distance of 100 meters, labeled as 10GBASE-T (10G Ethernet)

Cat 7

Speeds of 10 Gbps to 100 Gbps, max distance of 100 to 15 meters, labeled as 10GBASE-T (10G Ethernet) or 100GBASE-T (100G Ethernet)

Cat 8

Speeds of 25 to 40 Gbps, max distance of 30 meters, labeled as 25GBASE-T (25G Ethernet) or 40GBASE-T (40G Ethernet)

RJ45 (8P8C)

Twisted pair cabling for Ethernet usually gets terminated using this modular connector.

How is a RJ45 typically wired up between two device?

T568A to T568B.

RJ11

Used to terminate two-pair cable, used in telephone systems and with broadband digital subscriber line (DSL) modems.

Permanent cable

Cable ran through the wall and ceiling to an equipment room and connected to a patch panel, usually terminated to wall ports using insulation displacement connectors (IDC), also known as “punchdown blocks“.

Patch cords

Usually terminated using RJ45 plugs crimped to the end of the cable.

Cable Stripper

A tool designed to score the outer jacket just enough to allow it to be removed.

Punchdown Tool

A tool used to fix each conductor into an IDC.

Crimper

A tool used to fix a jack to a patch cord.

Cable tester

A tool that is designed to attach to each end of a cable. It can be used to test a patch cord or connected via patch cords to a wall port and patch panel port to test the permanent link.

Toner Probe

Used to identify a cable from within a bundle.

Tone generator

Two-part tool used to identify one cable within a bundle by applying an audible signal.

Loopback Plug

A tool which is used to test a NIC or switch port.

Network Tap

Used to intercept the signals passing over a cable and send them to a packet or protocol analyzer.

Plenum Cable

Uses treated PVC or fluoridated ethylene polymer (FEP), which makes the cable less flexible but reduces the amount of smoke when burned and doesn’t affect bandwidth. Marked as CMP.

General purpose cabling

Uses PVC jackets and insulation, usually marked as CMG or CM.

Outside plant (OSP)

Cable ran on the external walls of a building or between two buildings, making it vulnerable to weathering.

Optical fiber

Consists of an ultra-fine core of glass to convey the light pulses.

Fiber optic cable

Network cable type that uses light signals as the basis for data transmission.

Single-mode fiber (SMF)

Has a small core and is designed to carry a long wavelength infrared signal. Has speeds up to 10 Gbps or better and cable’s ran many kilometers.

Multimode fiber (MMF)

Has a larger core, designed to carry a shorter wavelength. Uses less expensive and less coherent LEDs. Doesn’t support such high signaling speeds or long distances as single-mod and so is more suitable for LANs than WANs.

Straight-tip connector (ST)

A bayonet-style connector that uses a push-and-twist locking mechanism; it is used mostly on older multi-mode networks.

Subscriber connector (SC)

Has a push/pull design that allows for simpler insertion and removal than fiber channel (FC) connector.

Lucent connector (LC)

A small form factor connector with a tabbed push/pull design.