Network Technology; The Network And Its Components; Connection Modes - ELSA LANCOM Wireless L-2 Manuel De L'utilisateur

R4 Technical basics

Network technology

This paragraph will give you a brief introduction to the basics of network technology.
These descriptions do not cover all possible techniques, processes and terms associated
with network technology. They only covered to the degree necessary to provide an
understanding of the product information.

The network and its components

Network, Whenever several computers communicate with one another, this connection is called a
transmission
network. For computers to be able to communicate, they need a physical medium
medium,
through which the information can be transmitted. This can be a wired or radio link, for
interfaces
example, that is connected to the computers using special interfaces (e.g. network
adapters).
The term network cable (or simply wire) in the following text also refers to any other
physical medium that can take on the function of the cable, such as wireless links.
Packets The individual bits of electronic information that are sent from one computer to another
Cells
through a medium are called packets or cells, depending on the process.
For most of the following explanations, the difference between packets and cells is
irrelevant. Therefore, we will use the term packet or data packet in a general sense and
only detail the special characteristics of cells as necessary.
Host The computer and other terminal devices (e.g. the printer) in a network that generate or
process information are called hosts. Ideally, the host is not responsible for the task of
forwarding information. A host normally has exactly one interface to the network.
Router The transport of packets between two hosts occurs indirectly through exchanges that
pass packets on to the target computer. These exchanges are called routers. A router
has at least two interfaces so that it can receive the data from a sender and pass them
on to a recipient. Apart from the exchange function, the router also has the properties of
a host so that it can also be the recipient of data packets, for configuration purposes for
example.

Connection modes

Point-to-point When exactly two hosts are connected via a medium, this is referred to as a point-to-
connection
point connection. One host transmits packets that can only be received by exactly one
recipient (unambiguous connection).
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