Glossary - 3Com OfficeConnect 3C19500 User Manual

G
LOSSARY
10BASE-T The IEEE specification for 10 Mbps Ethernet over
Category 3, 4 or 5 twisted pair cable.
100BASE-TX The IEEE specification for 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet
over Category 5 twisted-pair cable.
Auto-IP (Automatic-IP) Auto-IP addressing occurs when a
device on the network allocates an IP address to itself.
Auto-negotiation Some devices in the OfficeConnect range
support auto-negotiation. Auto-negotiation is where two devices
sharing a link, automatically configure to use the best common
speed. The order of preference (best first) is: 100BASE-TX full
duplex, 100BASE-TX half duplex, 10BASE-T full duplex, and
10BASE-T half duplex. Auto-negotiation is defined in the IEEE
802.3 standard for Ethernet and is an operation that takes place
in a few milliseconds.
Bandwidth The information capacity, measured in bits per
second, that a channel can transmit. The bandwidth of Ethernet
is 10 Mbps, the bandwidth of Fast Ethernet is 100 Mbps.
Bridge A device that interconnects two LANs of a different type
to form a single logical network that comprises of two network
segments. Bridges learn which endstations are on which network
segment by examining the source addresses of packets. They
then use this information to forward packets based on their
destination address. This process is known as filtering.
Broadcast A packet sent to all devices on a network.
Category 3 Cables One of five grades of Twisted Pair (TP)
cabling defined by the EIA/TIA-586 standard. Category 3 is voice
grade cable and can only be used in Ethernet networks
(10BASE-T) to transmit data at speeds of up to 10 Mbps.
Category 5 Cables One of five grades of Twisted Pair (TP)
cabling defined by the EIA/TIA-586 standard. Category 5 can be
used in Ethernet (10BASE-T) and Fast Ethernet networks
(100BASE-TX) and can transmit data up to speeds of 100 Mbps.
Category 5 cabling is better to use for network cabling than
Category 3, because it supports both Ethernet (10 Mbps) and
Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) speeds.
Client A computer, printer or server that is connected to a
network.
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) Windows 95,
Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0 contain software that assigns
IP addresses to workstations on a network. These assignments
are made by the DHCP server software that runs on Windows NT
Server, and Windows 95 and Windows 98 will call the server to
obtain the address. Windows 98 will allocate itself an address if
no DHCP server can be found.
Dual Speed Hub A dual speed hub is a device that supports
both Ethernet and Fast Ethernet technologies. Each port can be
connected to either an Ethernet or a Fast Ethernet device. Each
port automatically senses the speed of the connected device and
operates at the highest speed possible.
Endstation See Client.
Ethernet A LAN specification developed jointly by Xerox, Intel
and Digital Equipment Corporation. Ethernet networks use
CSMA/CD to transmit packets at a rate of 10 Mbps over a variety
of cables.
Ethernet Address See MAC address.
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