Instant Broadband Series | Linksys BEFSR41, BEFSRU31 guide

Instant Broadband™ Series

NetBEUI (NetBIOS Extended User Interface) - The transport layer for NetBIOS. NetBIOS and NetBEUI were originally part of a single protocol suite that was later separated. NetBIOS sessions can be transported over NetBEUI, TCP/IP, and SPX/IPX protocols.

NetBIOS - The native networking protocol in DOS and Windows networks. Although originally combined with its transport layer protocol (NetBEUI), NetBIOS today provides a programming interface for applications at the ses- sion layer (layer 5). NetBIOS can ride over NetBEUI, its native transport, which is not routable, or over TCP/IP and IPX/SPX, which are routable proto- cols.

NetBIOS computers are identified by a unique 15-character name, and Windows machines (NetBIOS machines) periodically broadcast their names over the network so that Network Neighborhood can catalog them. For TCP/IP networks, NetBIOS names are turned into IP addresses via manual configura- tion in an LMHOSTS file or a WINS server.

There are two NetBIOS modes. The Datagram mode is the fastest mode, but does not guarantee delivery. It uses a self-contained packet with send and receive name, usually limited to 512 bytes. If the recipient device is not listen- ing for messages, the datagram is lost. The Session mode establishes a connec- tion until broken. It guarantees delivery of messages up to 64KB long.

Network - A system that transmits any combination of voice, video, and/or data between users.

Network Mask - also known as the “Subnet Mask.”

NIC (Network Interface Card) - A board installed in a computer system, usu- ally a PC, to provide network communication capabilities to and from that com- puter system. Also called an adapter.

Notebook (PC) - A notebook computer is a battery-powered personal comput- er generally smaller than a briefcase that can easily be transported and conve- niently used in temporary spaces such as on airplanes, in libraries, at temporary offices, and at meetings. A notebook computer, sometimes called a laptop com- puter, typically weighs less than five pounds and is three inches or less in thick- ness.

Packet Filtering - Discarding unwanted network traffic based on its originat- ing address or range of addresses or its type (e-mail, file transfer, etc.).

EtherFast® Cable/DSL Routers

Partitioning - To divide a resource or application into smaller pieces.

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) - A peripheral bus commonly used in PCs, Macintoshes and workstations. It was designed primarily by Intel and first appeared on PCs in late 1993. PCI provides a high-speed data path between the CPU and peripheral devices (video, disk, network, etc.). There are typically three or four PCI slots on the motherboard. In a Pentium PC, there is generally a mix of PCI and ISA slots or PCI and EISA slots. Early on, the PCI bus was known as a “local bus.”

PCI provides “plug and play” capability, automatically configuring the PCI cards at startup. When PCI is used with the ISA bus, the only thing that is gen- erally required is to indicate in the CMOS memory which IRQs are already in use by ISA cards. PCI takes care of the rest.

PCI allows IRQs to be shared, which helps to solve the problem of limited IRQs available on a PC. For example, if there were only one IRQ left over after ISA devices were given their required IRQs, all PCI devices could share it. In a PCI- only machine, there cannot be insufficient IRQs, as all can be shared.

PCMCIA - The PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) is an industry group organized in 1989 to promote standards for a credit card-size memory or I/O device that would fit into a personal computer, usually a notebook or laptop computer.

Ping (Packet INternet Groper) - An Internet utility used to determine whether a particular IP address is online. It is used to test and debug a network by send- ing out a packet and waiting for a response.

Plug-and-Play- The ability of a computer system to configure expansion boards and other devices automatically without requiring the user to turn off the system during installation.

Port - A pathway into and out of the computer or a network device such as a switch or router. For example, the serial and parallel ports on a personal com- puter are external sockets for plugging in communications lines, modems, and printers.

Port Mirroring - Port mirroring, also known as a roving analysis port, is a method of monitoring network traffic that forwards a copy of each incoming and outgoing packet from one port of a network switch to another port where the packet can be studied. A network administrator uses port mirroring as a