3Com 5104M-FL1 installation and operation guide As equivalent distance. Every

Table 2-1. Seven Basic Network Rules (Continued)

Rule	Definition	Recommendations/Notes
2	Wire the backbone in	Make sure to lay extra fiber cables. The
	a star topology to	extra cost is small and you will find you
	isolate faults.	need them as your network grows.
		The star topology conforms to FDDI
		wiring as well -- just makesure to run at
		least two fiber strands to every
		backbone connection.
3	The maximum Fiber	The 4200 meters is the maximum
	Ethernet network	distance between any two transceivers
	diameter is 4200	on the network.
	meters of fiber cable.
		The 4200 meters does not include the
		transceiver cable (that is, drop or patch
		cable) that connects a device with an
		external transceiver. Transceiver cables
		can extend up to 50 meters. Thus, total
		network diameter can be as much as
		4300 meters (4200 m + 2 * 50 m)
		between any two nodes.
4	Certain LAN devices	Many LAN products delay the signal
	on the network shrink	that goes through them. This is known
	the maximum Fiber	as equivalent distance. Every
	Ethernet network	microsecond delay reduces the
	diameter to less than	maximum link distance. In fact, every
	4200 meters.	microsecond delay shrinks the network
		diameter by approximately 200 meters
		of fiber cable. Table 2-2 lists the
		Equivalent Distances for other 3Com
		products.

Designing and Expanding the Network 2 - 3