Local Area Network Hardware
What hardware is needed to make up a local area network?
- Network hardware is a selection of essential components that enable the connectivity and communication of devices within computer networks
- You need to understand the purpose of the following network hardware:
- Router
- Wireless access point (WAP)
- Switch
- Network interface card (NIC)
- Transmission media
What is a router?
- The router is responsible for routing data packets between different networks
- An example of data the router can direct is, sending internet traffic to the right devices in your home
- The router connects networks together, local area networks (LAN) to the wider internet which is a type of wide area network (WAN)
- The router can manage and prioritise data traffic, which can help to keep connections stable
- The router will assign IP addressed to the devices on the network
What is a wireless access point (WAP)?
- The Wireless Access Point (WAP) allows wireless devices to connect to a local area network (LAN)
- The WAP connects to a Switch or Hub via an Ethernet cable
- The WAP range is limited so the use of multiple Wireless Access Points can be used for complete coverage or a home/business
What is a switch?
- A Switch allows multiple wired devices to connect to a local area network (LAN)
- The Switch is an active device, which means it can inspect network data and route it to the correct device, thus reducing traffic on the network
- A Switch can contain extra Software to allow administration/configuration
What is a network interface card (NIC)?
- The Network Interface Card (NIC) is required for a computer to connect to a network
- A NIC can be both wired and wireless and allows your computer to send and receive data over a network
What is transmission media?
- Transmission media is the phrase used to describe the method of connecting a wired network
- There are 3 main types of transmission media used
- Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)
- Coaxial (Copper)
- Fibre Optic
Unshielded twisted pair (UTP)
- A Twisted Pair cable is made up of insulated pairs of copper wires twisted around each other
- Twister Pair is Low Bandwidth and more affordable than the other two cables, so is commonly found in Local Area Networks (LAN)
Coaxial
- A coaxial cable is a medium bandwidth and more expensive than UTP
- Coaxial cables are used to connect large-scale networks such as telephone networks and digital cable/satellite television
Fibre optic
- A Fibre Optic cable, unlike the other two, is unaffected by electrical noise, making it the fastest in terms of data transfer
- Fibre Optic is High Bandwidth and the most expensive
- Fibre Optic is commonly used for high data volume networks and long-distance connections such as between cities/countries
Worked example
One piece of network hardware is a router. State 3 tasks carried out by a router. [3]
To answer the question you must simply identify 3 tasks a router does.
1 mark each to max 3 e.g.
- Receive packets
- Forward/send packets
- Maintain a routing tableĀ
- Identify the most efficient path to the destination / correct IP / correct location
- Assign IP addresses to nodes / devices
- Converts packets from one protocol to another