| A | B |
|---|
| nic | network interface card |
| ring | Connection of two or more stations in a logically circular topology. Information is passed sequentially between active stations. Token Ring, FDDI, and CDDI are based on this topology. |
| mesh | Network topology in which devices are organized in a manageable, segmented manner with many, often redundant, interconnections strategically placed between network nodes. See also full mesh and partial mesh. |
| star | LAN topology in which end points on a network are connected to a common central switch by point-to-point links. A ring topology that is organized as a star implements a unidirectional closed-loop star, instead of point-to-point links. Compare with bus topology, ring topology, and tree topology. |
| extend star | multiple stars connected |
| bus | Broadcast and unknown server. Multicast server used in ELANs that is used to flood traffic addressed to an unknown destination, and to forward multicast and broadcast traffic to the appropriate clients. See also ELAN. |
| hierarchial | Extended star topology where a central hub is connected by vertical cabling to other hubs that are dependent on it |
| logical-token | have to have the token to talk. one at a time |
| logical-broadcast | host sends message to everyone even though it may be meant for one person |
| repeater | Device that regenerates and propagates electrical signals between two network segments. |
| hubs | 1. Generally, a term used to describe a device that serves as the center of a star-topology network. |
| media | Plural of medium. The various physical environments through which transmission signals pass. Common network media include twisted-pair, coaxial and fiber-optic cable, and the atmosphere (through which microwave, laser, and infrared transmission occurs). Sometimes called physical media. |
| switch | 1.) Network device that filters, forwards, and floods frames based on the destination address of each frame. The switch operates at the data link layer of the OSI model. |
| router | Network layer device that uses one or more metrics to determine the optimal path along which network traffic should be forwarded. Routers forward packets from one network to another based on network layer information. Occasionally called a gateway (although this definition of gateway is becoming increasingly outdated). Compare with gateway. See also relay. |
| bridge | Device that connects and passes packets between two network segments that use the same communications protocol. Bridges operate at the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI reference model. In general, a bridge will filter, forward, or flood an incoming frame based on the MAC address of that frame. See also relay |
| cloud | unconscievably big network (internet) |
