RJ45 LC BNC

Wired Fiber optic Coaxial

Dongles netcard
In 1973 Robert Metcalfe needed something that was fast, could
connect hundreds of computers, and span a whole building. To
solve this problem, Metcalfe developed a rudimentary form of
LAN and dubbed it Ethernet. The original Ethernet sent
roughly a paragraph of data over thick coaxial cable and could
handle a distance of one kilometer.
In 1975 Xerox filed a patent listing Metcalf, David Boggs,
Chuck Thacker and Butler Lampson as inventors. In 1976
Metcalf wrote a seminal paper that stated the transfer rate was 3
Mbits/second. Metcalf left Xerox in 79 to start the company
3com.
In 1981, 3COM built the first 10 Mbits/sec Ethernet adapter.

In mid 1980s, Tim Rock, Richard Bennett, Pat Thaler, and

others develop StarLAN, the basis for 1BASE5 ethernet

In late 1980s the twisted pair

design started to replace the
coaxial cables.
 How the NIC transfers data
• The app you are using generates the data you
would like to send to another computer.
• Your NIC accepts the data from your
motherboard and transfers it to a small buffer on
the card.
• The NIC adds its address (set by the
manufacturer) plus the destination address and
the type of data to the buffer.
• Your NIC calculates the checksum, or CRC, for
the data in the buffer.
 How the NIC transfers data
• The information is arranged into a frame.
• The NIC “listens” to the network for other transmissions.
If a transmission is heard, it will wait until the
transmission is complete.
• The NIC begins to serially transmit the frame over the
network.
• The receiving NIC calculates the checksum for the
received frame, then compares it to the checksum it
received.
• If there are no errors, the receiving station acknowledges
the received data.
 Translated into 5 steps
• The network application retrieves the data being
sent.
• The NIC puts the address of the other computer
onto the data.
• The NIC calculates for errors.
• The data is arranged into a packet and sent over
the network.
• The receiving card checks for errors, if there are
none, it acknowledges the data.
The Network interface cards use differing amounts of
voltage to transport the 1s and 0s of binary across the
cable.
For fiber optic cable, different wavelengths of light are
passed along.
Application
This layer supports application and end-user processes.
(Layer 7)  

Presentation
 This layer translates the data so it can be sent along the network. It is
(Layer 6)
sometimes called the syntax layer.
Session This layer establishes, manages and terminates connections between applications.
 The session layer sets up, coordinates, and terminates connections at each end. It
(Layer 5)
deals with session and connection coordination.

Transport This layer provides transparent transfer of data between end systems, or hosts, and
(Layer 4) is  responsible for end-to-end error recovery and flow control. It ensures complete
data transfer.
This layer provides routing technologies, creating paths, known as virtual circuits,
Network for transmitting data from computer to computer. Routing and forwarding are
 
(Layer 3) functions of this layer, as well as addressing, internetworking, error handling,
congestion control and packet sequencing.
At this layer, data packets are encoded and decoded into bits. The data link layer is
Data Link divided into two sub layers: The Media Access Control (MAC) layer and the
Logical
  Link Control (LLC) layer. The MAC layer controls how a computer on the
(Layer 2)
network gains access to the data and permission to transmit it. The LLC layer
controls frame synchronization, flow control and error checking.

Physical This layer conveys the bit stream - electrical impulse, light or radio signal -- through the
network
  at the electrical and mechanical level. It provides the hardware means of sending and
(Layer 1)
receiving data on a carrier, including defining cables, cards and physical aspects. Fast
Ethernet, RS232, and ATM are protocols with physical layer components.
 Token Ring Process
• Phase 0 (Lobe Check) —The station checks to ensure it can receive these frames without error.
• Phase 1 (Physical Insertion) — A station then sends a 5 volt signal to the MSAU to open the
relay.
• Phase 2 (Address Verification) — A station then transmits MAC frames with its own MAC
address in the destination address field of a token ring frame. When the frame returns and if
the address copied , the station must participate in the periodic (every 7 seconds) ring poll
process. This is where stations identify themselves on the network as part of the MAC
management functions.
• Phase 3 (Participation in ring poll) — A station learns the address of its Nearest Active
Upstream Neighbor (NAUN) and makes its address known to its nearest downstream
neighbor, leading to the creation of the ring map. Station waits until it receives an AMP or
SMP frame with the ARI and FCI bits set to 0. When it does, the station flips both bits (ARI
and FCI) to 1, if enough resources are available, and queues an SMP frame for transmission. If
no such frames are received within 18 seconds, then the station reports a failure to open and
de-inserts from the ring. If the station successfully participates in a ring poll, it proceeds into
the final phase of insertion, request initialization.
• Phase 4 (Request Initialization) — Finally a station sends out a special request to a parameter
server to obtain configuration information. This frame is sent to a special functional address,
typically a token ring bridge, which may hold timer and ring number information with which
to tell the new station abort
 How the procedure works.
Simpler than a token ring, the procedure for coaxial
is as following:
• Main procedure, it states and asks
• Asks: is the frame ready for transmission.
• Is medium idle? If not, wait until it becomes ready and wait the interframe
period
• Starts transmitting.
• Asks: did a collision occur? If so, it goes to collision detected procedure.
• Resets retransmission counters and end frame transmission.
• If a collision is detected it:
• Continues the transmission until minimum packet time is reached to ensure
that all receivers detect the collision.
• Counts how many times it retransmitted
• Asks: was the maximum number of transmission attempts reached? If so, abort
transmission.
• Calculates and wait random back off period based on number of collision
• Re-enters main procedure at stage 1.
 How long the card waits
between retransmission
The card counts how many collisions occurred.
Then, back-off algorithms determine when the
colliding stations retransmit.

2^n -1 Action N = number of

2^0 - 1 Transmits immediately
collisions
Waits 0, 1, 2, or three slots
2^2 - 1
2^3 - 1 Waits 0 to 7 slots

The card can wait up to 16 collisions, anything higher and it quits.

Slot Time: Twice the time it takes for an electronic pulse to travel the
length of the maximum theoretical distance between two nodes.
 The Frames

A runt frame is a packet smaller than the 64

bytes. This usually occurs because of a collision
or an error.
 Differences in the cards
• The major difference between the cards are the
way the data is converted to transmit over the
network. Each type of network has its own type of
transceiver (transmitter + receiver). 10baseT
networks have a specialized transceiver that
translates the data into 10baseT Ethernet
standards, then transmits it. It also receives
information from the network and translates it
back into a form the NIC card can use.
Differences in the cards (continued)

• 10base2 Ethernet networks have almost the

same NIC except for the transceiver. Some
NICs have two transceivers, normally
10baseT and 10base2. These dual type
cards are known as combo NICs.
 Major Manufacturers
• ZTE
• Cisco Systems
• Hewlett-Packard
• 3Com
• Linksys
• Belkin
• Dlink
 Fiber Distributed Data Interface

Can support thousands of users

Uses duel token ring setup
Due to their speed, cost and ubiquity, fast Ethernet and (since
1998) Gigabit Ethernet have largely made FDDI redundant.

Needs two Token ring supportable cards or two jacks on the

card.
 Price
• The cards can range in price from $10 to
$800. Most cards are actually around $20.
 References
• Webopedia.com
• Howstuffworks.com
• http://everything2.com/title/How+Network
+Adapters+Work
• Wikipedia.com
• Bestbuy.com
http://www.eflnet.com/networking/acrolist.php?firstletter=F