LTSP/HardWare

De ALT Linux

Networking works by breaking files and other data into little packets of information. These packets are transferred over a network. The difference between various types of networks is how they transfer packets.

There are two types of networking hardware: wired and wireless.

An important fact to remember is that a network will be only as fast as the slowest part. Making sure that your network setup matches your intended use case is an important consideration in an LTSP network. Wired

Wired networking transfers packets over a cable that resembles a telephone cord, but with more wires. Wired networks can transfer packets at one of three possible speeds: 10 Mbit/sec, 100 Mbit/sec, or (Gigabit) 1000 Mbit/sec.

A network is only useful if it can connect multiple computers. There are some pieces of hardware that allow multiple computers to be connected in a network. They look alike, but they function differently and, likewise, operate at different speeds.

Hub

A hub is the simplest way to connect multiple computers. A hub has a lot of ports in the front and usually has several small lights corresponding to each port. The hub takes a message it receives on one port and re-sends it to all the ports. As a result, only one port can talk at a time.

Switch

A switch looks a lot like a hub; it has a lot of ports in the front and usually has several small lights corresponding to each port. However, a switch is unlike a hub because it only makes a connection between the ports it needs to. A switch can have multiple connections at the same time. This allows a switch to be faster than a hub.

Router

A router is used to make a connection between two networks. Routers are also commonly used to connect a LAN (local area network) to the Internet.