What is Network Cabling?

Cable is the medium through which information usually moves from one network device to another. There are several types of cable which are commonly used with LANs. In some cases, a network will utilize only one type of cable, other networks will use a variety of cable types. The type of cable chosen for a network is related to the network's topology, protocol, and size. Understanding the characteristics of different types of cable and how they relate to other aspects of a network is necessary for the development of a successful network. The following sections discuss the types of cables used in networks and other related topics.

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable Coaxial Cable Fiber Optic Cable

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable-The cable has four pairs of wires

inside the jacket. Each pair is twisted with a different number of twists per inch to help eliminate interference from adjacent pairs and other electrical devices. Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable- If you must place cable in environments with lots of potential interference, or if you must place cable in extremely sensitive environments that may be susceptible to the electrical current in the UTP, shielded twisted pair may be the solution. Shielded cables can also help to extend the maximum distance of the cables.
Coaxial Cable-Coaxial cabling has a single copper conductor at its center. A

plastic layer provides insulation between the center conductor and a braided metal shield. In actual fact the maximum segment length is 185 meters. Thin coaxial cable has been popular in linear bus networks.

Fiber Optic Cable-Fiber optic cabling consists of a center glass core

surrounded by several layers of protective materials. It transmits light rather than electronic signals eliminating the problem of electrical interference. Fiber optic cable has the ability to transmit signals over much longer distances than coaxial and twisted pair. It also has the capability to carry information at vastly greater speeds. This capacity broadens communication possibilities to include services such as video conferencing and interactive services.

What does network topology mean ? A network topology refers to either the physical, or logical, layout of a network installation.
There are four main network topologies (and mixtures of the four) in common use today. Bus Mesh Ring Star
Bus Topology - The Bus topology is one of the simplest of the four

network topologies to use. In its most basic form, it is simply a case of running one cable (referred to as the backbone) from the first device/PC in the network to the last device/PC, and then add any further devices/PCs to the existing cable (backbone) between the first and last machines.

The Mesh Topology

This type of network topology boasts the highest fault tolerance of all of the network topologies, it is also usually the most expensive. In a mesh topology, each device/PC is connected to every other device/PC in the network by its own cable (see fig 1.2 below), which means vast amounts of cables for any sizeable network.

The Ring Topology

The physical ring topology is rarely used these days, a Ring topology networks the devices by connecting each device to its two neighbouring devices

The Star Topology

A physical Star topology connects the devices via a centralised unit, such as a Hub orSwitch.

What is Ip Address and its are the classes.

An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label assigned to each device (e.g., computer, printer) participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP Adresse can be classified into five classes A, B, C, D and E. Each class consists of a contiguous subset of the overall IPv4 address range.

Range.
Class A 0-126 Class B 128-191 Class C 192-223 Class D 224-239 (Used for Mulicast) Class E 240-255 (Used for Research and Education).

What Is a Private IP and Public IP Address?

An IP address is considered private if the IP number falls within one of the IP address ranges reserved for private uses by Internet standards groups. Private IP addresses are typically used on local networks including home, school and business LANs including airports and hotels. Public IP Addresses (also known as Static IP Addresses) are IPaddresses that are visible to the public. Because these ip addresses are public, they allow other people to know about and access your computer, like a Web server.In some cases, you do not want people to access your computer or you want to restrict certain individuals from accessing your computer or server.

DSN, GAREWAY,DHCP Server A data source name (DSN) is a data structure that contains the information about a specific database that an Open Database Connectivity ( ODBC ) driver needs in order to connect to it. A gateway is a network point that acts as an entrance to another network. On the Internet, a node or stopping point can be either a gateway node or a host (end-point) node. Both the computers of Internet users and the computers that serve pages to users are host nodes. The computers that control traffic within a company's network or at your local Internet service provider (ISP) are gateway nodes.

 Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network protocol that enables a server to automatically assign an IP address to a computer from a defined range of numbers (i.e., a scope) configured for a given network.DHCP assigns an IP address when a system is started

What is the difference between a mac address and an IP address?

An IP address is the location of a given computer or other network device on an IP network. It tells other devices where to go to "talk" to that computer/device. Think of it like a phone number. A MAC address is kind of a serial number for network devices like ethernet cards - the first half of the MAC address tells what brand/model the card is, and the second half is a unique identifier specific to that card. Think of it like the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) on your car.