3.0 Hardware - CompTIA A + 22-1101

Network Cables

Network cables: Used to connect devices like computers to networking equipment.

Three types of network cables: coaxial, twisted pair, and fiber

Cable: medium through which data is transferred from one device to another

Copper: Most commonly used in coaxial and twisted pair cables.

Categories are used to describe the performance ratings of twisted pair cables.

Cat cables: 1-8 (exam Category 5 through 6a)

Cat 5: cable transmission rate of 100 Mbps over a distance of 100 meters.

Cat 5e: Cables have a transmission rate of up to 1 Gbps over a max distance of 100 meters due to the separation of the four sets of twisted pairs from one another and an increased number of twists in the cable pairs. This causes less interference.

Cat 6: Cables have a transmission rate of up to 10 Gbps over a max distance of 55 meters.

Cat 6a: Cables have a transmission rate of up to 10 Gbps but have an increased distance capability of up to 100 meters.

Coaxial: single copper-colored cable contained in an inner insulation layer. They are not commonly used in modern networks, but some usage may still be seen with cable/satellite devices. Coaxial cables are specified by the Radio Guide (RG) system.

RG-6: Made of solid copper core used with satellite/cable modems.

RG-59: made up of a solid copper core and used for cable television.

Twisted copper pair: twisted pair cable made of copper. The cable consists of pairs of individual wires twisted into pairs that are then twisted together. Cable is contained in an insulated jacket.

Ethernet cables: twisted pairs.

2 Types of Twisted Copper Pairs: Shielded twisted pair (STP) & Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP): Made up of two to four pairs of twisted wires. The pairs of wires in UTP cables are twisted in direct contact. Ea. wire is in an insulating layer, which stops copper from directly contacting itself.

Shielded Twisted Pair (STP): Made of two to four pairs of twisted wires. Each pair is contained in a layer of braided foil sheathing before being twisted with the other pairs in the cable. Reduces electrical interference.

What type of twisted copper pair is used in Cat 7 and Cat 8 Cables: STP

Direct burial: the practice of burying cables underground. Direct burial cables should be STP cables with an extra waterproof sheathing. DB should be between 6 and 8 inches underground in protective PVC pipe and placed away from any other lines that contain electrical currents.

Plenum: Teflon-type covering used to cover all types of network cables. Plenum is used in cables that may be exposed to extreme heat or have the possibility of releasing gasses into a ventilation system, such as ceilings.

Optical: transmission method that depends on light pulses for data transfer.

Fiber: Small strings of flexible glass that are used for optical data transmission.

Fiber optic cables: a fiber is surrounded by a rubberized coating and provides transmission speeds from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps over a max distance of several miles.

Fiber is immune to: electrical interference and wiretapping.

2 Basic types of fiber: single-mode and multimode.

Single-mode fiber: carries only one light path, usually sourced by a laser.

Multimode fiber: carries multiple light paths and is surrounded by an LED. Single-mode has a much longer transmission distance than multimode.

T568A/T568B are twisted pair wire standards used for RJ-45 wiring connectors.

T568A standard: green/white, green, orange/white, blue/white, orange, brown/white, and brown. Used w/ single & double pair USOC wiring schemes. Has dual-use capacity.

USOC (universal service ordering code): Dev. by Bell Systems to create a standard in the wiring of Registered Jack connections between home devices and greater networks like the Internet.

T568B standard: orange/white, orange, green/white, blue, blue/white, green, brown/white, brown. Used w/ single-pair USOC wiring schemes.

Peripheral Cables

Peripheral cables: attach peripheral devices to a computing device. Used to attach printers, keyboards, monitors, and USB devices.

USB 2.0: Universal serial bus 2.0 standard. Max speed of 480 Mbps and referred to as hi-speed.

USB 3.0: USB 3.0 Standard. Has a max speed of 5 Gbps and is referred to as SuperSpeed.

Serial cable: built for serial communications with a corresponding serial connector on the end. The most common serial connection type is DB9, which has 9 pins.

Thunderbolt: Combination of PCI Express 2.0 ×4 and DisplayPort 1.x technology. Thunderbolt was designed primarily for video transmission but can be used by other devices.

Thunderbolt standards (1-4): Thunderbolts 1 & 2 terminate in a mini-display connector. Thunderbolts 3 and 4 terminate in a USB-C connector.

Video Cables

Video cable: designed to transmit data to visual display units.

HDMI: High-definition multimedia interface cable. Can handle higher motion-picture frame rates and digital audio on a single cable.

Standard A HDMI: Most common connector type for an HDMI cable. Has 19 Pins.

DP: DisplayPort was developed to use less power than previous video cables. Backward compatible with VGA and DVI. Capable of transmitting both audio and video signals. Standard DP cable has two hooks on it to lock the cable into place.

DVI (digital visual interface): Developed to tackle the shortcomings of analog video transmission. DVI cables are capable of transmitting digital signals to display units.

3 DVI Connector Standards: DVI-A for analog connection only, DVI-D for digital connection only, and DVI-I for both analog and digital signals. DVI Cables are usually white.

VGA (Video graphics array): oldest video standard cable still in use today. VGA cable is strictly analog and is typically blue.

Hard Drive Cables

Hard drive cables/connectors: connect internal components to the motherboard.

Drive interfaces: hard drive connections that can be either on-board or off-board. The attachment standard is based on the hard drive’s requirements and consists of circuitry and a header, or port.

SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment): The most common type of drive interface. Standard SATA cable is internal and flat with a terminating connector that can only fit into the motherboard connection port in one way.

SATA data cable: has 7 pins

SATA power cable: 15 pins

What speeds do SATA revisions support?: 1.5 Gbps, 3 gbps, 6 gbps, 16 gbps.

SCSI (Small computer system interface): Hard drive connector used for storage device connection.

SCSI cables: ribbon cables or round cables containing 50, 68, or 80 wires. Up to 16 devices, including the motherboard or SCSI controller card, may be connected to one SCSI cable or daisy-chained together.

eSATA: the external SATA cable is external to the housing. eSATA cables are for data transmission only and do not provide power.

eSATA’s that provide power: eSATA, eSATA+, eSATAp, eSATA/USB

IDE (Integrated drive electronics): cables renamed parallel advanced technology attachment (PATA) are 40-pin flat data cables with a colored strip along one edge to indicate the location of pin 1. 3 separate connectors on the PATA cable, one for power and two for drives.

Adapters

Adapter: device that coverts one type of connection or cable technology to another, such as DVI-to-VGA, DVI-to-HDMI, or USB-to-ethernet.

Connector Types

Connections are installed at the terminating points of cables to provide connection to compatible/matching components and peripherals. The connector type depends on the type of cable and desired receptacle compatibility.

RJ11 (Registered Jack (J)): Standard for telecommunication network interfaces for voice and data equipment connection to a service provider or carrier. RJ11 is used with twisted pair cables to connect 4 to 6 wires to traditional telephone lines of modems.

RJ45: used with twisted pair cables for eight-wire connections. A twisted-pair cable with RJ45 connectors is commonly called an Ethernet cable.

F-Type: F-connectors are used with coaxial cables for cable and satellite data connections.

ST (straight tip): Bayonet style connector used with fiber optic cables.

SC (subscribe connector): push/pull-style connector used with fiber optic cables

LC (Lucent connector): push/pull style connector used with fiber optic cables that is half the size of an SC, making it more suitable for office and data center usage.

Punch down block: electrical connection device that allows for multiple copper wires to be “punched down” or inserted into a slot providing insulation as well as electrical connection to attached wires.

Micro USB: Smallest USB connector type contains 5 pins, and is direction dependent.

MiniUSB: Second-smallest USB connector type, contains 5 pins and is direction independent

USB-C: Most recent USB connector type containing 24 pins in an oval shape, allowing for reversible connection

Molex tm: Older two-piece pin and socket interconnection type used for drive connections.

Lightening port: Lightening port is an eight-pin Apple proprietary connector type that has reversible orientation.

DB9: Trapezoid-shaped nine-pin connector arranged in two rows of four and five pins. It is used for serial connections to network device consoles or management interfaces, facilitating communication between computers and networking equipment.