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SMC2404WBR: 11/22 Mbps Auto-Sensing Wireless Cable/DSL
Broadband Router F.A.Q.
TERMINOLOGY
Q.What is a LAN?
A. A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. It is made up of servers, workstations, a network operating system and a communications link. Servers are high-speed machines that hold programs and data shared by network users. The workstations (clients) are the users' personal computers, which perform stand-alone processing and access the network servers as required.
Diskless and floppy-only workstations are sometimes used, which retrieve all software and data from the server. Increasingly, "thin client" network computers and Windows terminals are also used. A printer can be attached locally to a workstation or to a server and be shared by network users. Small LANs can allow certain workstations to function as a server, allowing users access to data on another user's machine. These peer-to-peer networks are often simpler to install and manage, but dedicated servers provide better performance and can handle higher transaction volume. Multiple servers are used in large networks.
The message transfer is managed by a transport protocol such as TCP/IP and NetBEUI. The physical transmission of data is performed by the access method (Ethernet, Token Ring, etc.), which is implemented in the network adapters that are plugged into the machines. The actual communications path is the cable (twisted pair, coax, optical fiber) that interconnects each network adapter.
