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802.3ad
802.3ad is an IEEE standard for bonding or aggregating multiple Ethernet ports into one virtual interface (also
known as trunking). The aggregated ports appear as a single IP address to your computer and applications. This
means no application changes are required. The advantages of aggregation are that the virtual interface provides
increased bandwidth by merging the bandwidth of the individual ports. The TCP connection load is then balanced
across the ports. In addition to load balancing, 802.3ad provides automatic fail-over in the event any port or cable
fails. All traffic that was being routed over the failed port is automatically re-routed to use one of the remaining ports.
This fail-over is completely transparent to the application software using the connection.
Access Point
A device that allows wireless-equipped computers and other devices to communicate with a wired network. It is also
used to expand the range of a wireless network.
Bandwidth
The amount of transmission capacity that is available on a network at any point in time. Available bandwidth
depends on several variables such as the rate of data transmission speed between networked devices, network
overhead, number of users, and the type of device used to connect PCs to a network. It is similar to a pipeline in that
capacity is determined by size: the wider the pipe, the more water can flow through it; the more bandwidth a network
provides, the more data can flow through it. Standard 802.11b provides a bandwidth of 11 Mbps; 802.11a and
802.11g provide a bandwidth of 54 Mbps.
Baud Rate
A measure of the number of times per second a signal in a communications channel changes state. The state is
usually voltage level, frequency, or phase angle.
Beacon Interval
The frequency interval of the beacon, which is a packet broadcast by a router to synchronize a wireless network.
Bit
A binary digit.
Boot
To start a device and cause it to load executing instructions.
Bridge
A product that connects a local area network (LAN) to another local area network that uses the same protocol (for
example, wireless, Ethernet or token ring). Wireless bridges are commonly used to link buildings in campuses.
Broadband
A comparatively fast Internet connection. Services such as ISDN, cable modem, DSL and satellite are all considered
broadband as compared to dial-up Internet access. There is no official speed definition of broadband but services of
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