Hardware

Assalamualaikum~ Bonjour! ^^ (suddenly missing French class)


Directly to the point, let's look a little bit on hardware for networking purposes today.




File server

- the heart of most networks
- very fast computer
- provide load-balancing between servers




Workstations


- user computer that is connected to a network
- not necessarily need storage because data can be saved on file server
- almost all computers can serve as a network workstation




Network Interface Card (NIC) 

- connects network to computer workstation
- major factor on speed and network performance
- few types of NIC * Ethernet * Localtalk 


(note: Ethernet is faster and more expensive than Localtalk. It is also available on most computers not like Localtalk of which only available on Mac)




Hub 

hub

- facilitate communication between devices
- function almost the same as switch (the difference is how data is transferred. Switch determine the destination of the data first before send it. In contrast, hub just send away the data without considering which destination it is supposed to go.)
hub is no longer being used nowadays because switch is better. Hub will trouble user when the traffic is jam.  Less efficient. 

switch

Well... there are plenty other network hardware like bridge, repeater, router etc. (it might take the a lengthy and wordy post to provide everything here) 
The most important thing is to know which one is the most suitable hardware to be used for your own purpose. 

That's all for now. Bye!