LAN (local area network)

A local area network is a data communication system that allows a number of

independent devices to communicate directly with each other in a limited geographic
area. LAN can be of different types:

Ethernet (IEEE 802.3)

Token Bus (IEEE 802.4)
Token Ring (IEEE 802.5)
FDDI

Ethernet (IEEE 802.3):

Ethernet LAN is developed by Xerox and Intel Corporation. It supports 10 Mbps speed
and the enhanced versions of Ethernet LAN which can support up to 100 Mbps and 1000
Mbps are called Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet respectively. Ethernet LAN is based
on CSMA/CD protocol; which is following:
CSMA/CD protocol:
In CSMA/CD the station wishing to transmit first listens to certain the line is free, and
then transmits its data, and then listens again. During the data transmission, the station
checks the line for the extremely high voltage that indicates a collision. If a collision is
detected, the station quits the current transmission and waits a predetermined amount of
time for the line to clear, then sends its data again.
There are further three LAN standards in Ethernet and these are:

10BASE5: Thick Ethernet

10BASE2: Thin Ethernet
10BASE-T: Twisted Pair Ethernet

10 BASE 5 (Thick Ethernet):

Use Bus topology

Use thick coaxial cable
Speed is 10 Mbps
Use baseband signals
Lan is divided into segments and each segment is of 500 meters
Each segment have maximum 200 stations
Transceiver is used to attach the node to the cable. Transceiver has CSMA/CD
protocol.
Every node have NIC card.
Not easy to install

10 BASE 2 (Thin Ethernet):

Use Bus topology

Use thin coaxial cable
Speed is 10 Mbps
Use baseband signals
Lan is divided into segments and each segment is of 200 meters
Each segment have maximum 50 stations
BNC connectors are used to attach the node to the cable
Every node have NIC card which have the CSMA/CD protocol.
Easy to install

10 BASE-T (Thin Ethernet):

Use star topology.

Use UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) cable.
Speed is 10 Mbps.
Use baseband signals.
Every node is connected to the Hub with UTP cable having RJ-45 connector.
Every node have NIC card.
Very famous standard of Ethernet and easy to install and uninstall.

Token Ring (IEEE 802.5):

Network access mechanism used by Ethernet (CSMA/CD) may result in collisions and
for successful transmission it is necessary to send same data many times. Therefore, it
does not support if the traffic is real time and heavy. So a new LAN is designed called
Token Ring, IEEE 802.5. In this LAN, a station may send data only when it has
possession of the token and may send only one frame during the possession.

Features:

Ring in a Token Ring consists of a series of shielded twisted pair (STP) cable
sections linking each station to its neighbors.

One station in the ring is designated as a monitor station. The monitor sets a timer
each time the token passes. If the token does not reappear in the allotted time, it is
presumed to be lost and the monitor generates a new token and introduces in the
ring.

Every station has their priority level. A station with higher priority may remove
the lower priority reservation and replace with its own.

Each station has automatic switch and if any station is disabled, then automatic
switch bypass the data.

It supports data rates of 10 Mbps.

It has the capability of Error detection and correction.

It uses differential Manchester encoding.

Perform equally well at low and high level loads.

FDDI (Fiber distributed data interface):

FDDI is a local area Network standardized by ANSI and the ITU-T. FDDI is preferred to
transfer real time data. The Copper version of FDDI is known as CDDI.

Features:
FDDI is implemented as a dual ring. The second ring is provided in case the
primary fails. The secondary ring makes FDDI self-healing. Whenever a problem
occurs on the primary ring, the secondary ring can be activated to complete data
circuits and maintain service as given in the below diagram.

Protocol used in FDDI is token ring. A station may send as many frames as it can
within its access period.

FDDI differential between two types of data frames: synchronous (S-frames) and
asynchronous (A-frame). Synchronous (S-frames) frame used for real time data. It
must send its S-frames whether its time allotment has run out.

It supports data rates of 100 Mbps.

It has the capability of Error detection and correction.

FDDI uses NRZ (Non Return to Zero) signaling.

Perform equally well at low and high level loads.