Christy's Chapter Three

                                              Chapter Three-Connecting to the Network

Physical Topologies used in networking:

Bus Topology- Single backbone cable that is terminated at both ends. All hosts connect directly to backbone. Modern cable T.V. uses a variation of the bus topology.

Ring Topology- Connects one host to the next and the last host to the first, creating a physical ring of cable. Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) and Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) are based on ring topology.

Star Topology- Connects all the hosts to a central point. Star topology also is known as a hub-and-spoke network. With these network, all the remote sites are connected to a single central site.

Extended Star Topology- Links individual stars together by connecting the hubs or switches. Extended star topology is an upgrade from star topology.

Hierarchical Topology- Similar to Extender Star but, with LAN, instead of linking the hubs or switches together, instead they are linked to a network device. Device is usually a router that controls the traffic on the topology.

Mesh Topology- Provides redundant connection between network devices and/or locations. A full mesh in implemented to provide as much protection as possible from interruption of service. One place might use a mesh topology would be a nuclear power plant. With a full mesh, each site location has its own connections to all sites. Internet does not adopt the full mesh topology.

                               

Chapter Two In Networking for Home and SMall Businessess

                                                    Operation System Installation Methods

                    There are four types of Operation System Installation Methods. They are clean install, upgrade, multiboot, and virtualization. Clean install is used when you buy a new computer or a used computer you want to wipe everything off of it. It deletes all the data on the partition where the OS is installed and requires application to be reinstalled. Upgrade is when you have an OS on your computer and you want to put the same brand OS on it but just the new version of it. Also with an upgrade, system configuration settings, applications and data are preserved. Multiboot is installing more than one OS on a computer. Each OS is contained within its own partition and can have its own files and configuration settings. Only one OS can run at a time and is in full control of the hardware. Vertualizatin is a technique that is often deployed on servers. It lets the computer have many OS on it. The OS can be running at the same time.

Chapter One in Networking for Home and Small Businessess

TYPES OF COMPUTERS
In chapter one I learned there are different classes of computers. The different types of computers are: Mainframes, Servers, Desktops, Workstations, Laptops, and Handheld portable devices. Each type of computer has been designed with a particular purpose in mind, such as portable access to information, processing of detailed graphics, and so on.

Mainframes are large centralized computers. They are found in sizable enterprises and purchased through specialized resellers.

Servers are high-performance computers used in businesses and other organizations to provide services to many end users or clients. Servers have multiple central processing units, large amounts of random-access memory, and multiple high-capacity disk drives that provide very fast information retrieval.
There are three types of servers. They are: Standalone, Rack-mounted, and Blade.

Standalone Servers are flexibility in selection of internal components but take up a lot of floor space.

Rack-mounted Servers save floor space when racks are available.

Blade Servers are the highest concentration of computing power in the smallest amount of space.

Desktops computers are better known as personal computers or simply PCs. They are designed as end-user devices. Desktop computers have many options and capabilities. They can be customized depending on the person using it. They have a wide variety of cases, power supplies, hard drives, video cards, monitors, and other components. They can also have many different connection types, video options, and a wide array of supported peripherals.

Workstations are another end-user computing device. They are very similar to the desktop computer. Desktop and Workstations look similar but Workstations are usually high-powered machines designed for specialized, high-end applications. CAD, 3-D modeling and graphics design, video animation, and virtual reality simulation are normally run on workstations.

Laptops and Notebook is the same thing. They are comparable to desktops in usage and processing capability but, they are portable devices built to be lightweight and use less power. Laptops computers normally have a limited number of configurations available and are not as easily upgradeable as desktop computers.

Portable Devices vary in size, power, and graphics capability. Some Portable Devices are: Laptop or notebook PC, Tablet PC, Pocket PC, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), Gaming device, Cell phones, and so on. Portable Devices can do so many different things. They are in all forms of shape and sizes. People from all ages can use them.