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LO G I N / C R E AT E A C C O U N T

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    
BROUGHT
TO YOU
BY

CARLA SCHRODER (/USERS/CSCHRODER) |

(/USERS/CSCHRODER) OCTOBER 5, 2017

Linux Networking Hardware

for Beginners: LAN
Hardware

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This two-part tutorial looks at networking hardware, from traditional switches and routers
to smartphones and wireless hotspots.
Creative Commons Zero (/licenses/category/creative-commons-zero)
Pixabay

Software is always changing, but hardware not so much. This two-part

tour introduces networking hardware, from traditional switches and
routers to smartphones and wireless hotspots.

Local Area Network

The traditional local area network is connected with an Ethernet switch

and Cat cables. The basic components of an Ethernetwork are network
interface cards (NICs), cables, and switches. NICs and switches have
little status lights that tell you if there is a connection, and the speed of
the connection. Each computer needs an NIC, which connects to a switch
via an Ethernet cable. Figure 1 shows a simple LAN: two computers
connected via a switch, and a wireless access point routed into the wired
LAN.

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Figure 1: A simple LAN.

Creative Commons Attribution (/licenses/category/creative-commons-
attribution)
Carla Schroder

Installing cable is a bit of work, and you lose portability, but wired
Ethernet has some advantages. It is immune to the types of interference
that mess up wireless networks (microwave ovens, cordless phones,
wireless speakers, physical barriers), and it is immune to wireless
snooping. Even in this glorious year 2017 of the new millennium there
are still Linux distributions, and devices like IP surveillance cameras and
set-top boxes, that require a wired network connection for the initial
setup, even if they also support wi-�. Any device that has one of those
little physical factory-reset switches that you poke with a paperclip has
a hard-coded wired Ethernet address.

With Linux you can easily manage multiple NICs. My Internet is mobile
broadband, so my machines are connected to the Internet through a
wireless hotspot, and directly to each other on the separate wired
Ethernetwork for fast local communications. My workstations have easy
wi-� thanks to USB wireless interfaces (�gure 2).

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Switches come in "dumb" and managed

versions. Dumb switches are dead simple:
just plug in, and you're done. Managed
switches are con�gurable and o�er features
like power over Ethernet (PoE), controllable
port speeds, virtual LANs (VLANs),
Figure 2: USB wireless interfaces.
disable/enable ports, quality of service, and
Creative Commons
Attribution (/licenses security features.
/category/creative-
commons-attribution) Ethernet switches route tra�c only where it
Carla Schroder needs to go, between the hosts that are
communicating with each other. If you remember the olden days of
Ethernet hubs, then you remember that hubs broadcast all tra�c to all
hosts, and each host had to sort out which packets were meant for it.
That is why one de�nition of a LAN is a collision domain, because hubs
generated so much uncontrolled tra�c. This also enabled easy snooping
on every host connected to the hub. A nice feature on a managed switch
is a snooping port, which may be called a monitoring port, a
promiscuous port, or a mirroring port, which allows you to monitor all
tra�c passing through the switch.

Quick Ethernet cheat sheet:

Ethernet hardware supports data transfer speeds of 10, 100, 1000,

and 10,000 megabits per second.
These convert to 1.25, 12.5, 125, and 1,250 megabytes per second.
Real-world speeds are half to two-thirds of these values.
Network bandwidth is limited by the slowest link, such as a slow
hard drive, slow network interface, feeble CPU, congested router, or
boggy software.
Most computers have built-in Ethernet interfaces.
Gigabit (1000 Mb/s) USB Ethernet interfaces are dirt cheap,
currently around $25, and require USB 3.0.
Ethernet is backwards-compatible, so gigabit devices also support

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slower speeds.

A single user may not see much bene�t from 10 Gigabit Ethernet, but
multiple users will. You could use a 10 GigE link as your LAN backbone,
and use slower hardware to connect your subnets and individual hosts.

What is Bandwidth?

Bandwidth means several things: latency, throughput, error rate, and

jitter. Analogies are tricky, but we can illustrate this with a water pipe.
The diameter of the pipe limits the total bandwidth: the larger the pipe,
the more water it can deliver. Latency is how long you have to wait for
the water to start coming out. Jitter measures how smoothly the water is
delivered, or how erratically.

I can't think of a water analogy for error rate; in computer networking

that is how many of your data packets are corrupted. Data transfers
require that all packets arrive undamaged because a single bad packet
can break an entire data �le transfer. The TCP protocol guarantees
packet delivery and re-sends corrupted and missing packets, so a high
error rate results in slower delivery.

Having large bandwidth doesn't guarantee that you will enjoy smooth
network performance. Net�ix, for one example, requires only a
minimum of 1.5 Mb/s. High latency, jitter, and error rates are annoying
for data transmissions, but they are deadly for streaming media. This is
why you can have an Internet account rated at 20-30 Mb/s and still have
poor-quality video conferencing, music, and movies.

Ethernet Cables

Ethernet cables are rated in Cats, short for category: Cat 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Cat 5 was deprecated in 2001, and it's unlikely you'll see it for sale

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anymore. Cat 5e and 6 support 10/100/1000 Mb/s. Cat 6a and 7 are for 10
Gb/s. (You also have the option of optical �ber cabling for 10 Gb/s,
though it is more expensive than copper Cat 6a/7 cables.) Cat cables
contain 4 balanced-signal pairs of wires, and each individual wire is
made of either several copper strands twisted together, or one solid
copper wire. Twisted-pair cables are �exible. Solid-core wires are
sti�er and have less transmission loss.

Plenum cables are designed for permanent installations inside the

plenum spaces in buildings, dropped ceilings, inside of walls, and
underneath �oors. Plenum cables are wrapped in special plastics that
meet �re safety standards. These cost more than non-plenum, but don't
cheap out because duh, do I have to explain why? Plenum cables should
be solid-core rather than twisted pairs.

Patch cables are twisted-pair. Traditionally "patch" meant a short cable,

for connecting computers to wall outlets, switches to routers, and for
patch panels, though they can be as long as you need, up to about 300
feet for Cat 5e, 6, and 6a. For longer runs you'll need repeaters.

Come back next week for part 2, where we will learn how to connect
networks, and some cool hacks for mobile broadband.

Learn more about Linux through the free "Introduction to Linux" 

(https://training.linuxfoundation.org/linux-courses/system-administration-

training/introduction-to-linux)course from The Linux Foundation and edX.

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