3Com OfficeConnect User Manual - page 18
1-4
C
HAPTER
1: I
NTRODUCTION
IP
(Internet Protocol) is a data communication
protocol used to connect computers and data
equipment into computer networks. It is used on a
large international network called the
Internet
, which
is composed of universities, government facilities,
research institutions and private companies.
IPX
is a Novell Netware protocol that performs a
similar function to IP.
SLIP
(Serial Line Internet Protocol) allows you to run
the IP protocol over a serial line connection.
A
Modem
(Modulator–Demodulator) is a piece of
equipment used for transmitting computer data over
telephone lines.
How the Switch Can Be Used
Switching
When a network of repeater hubs is in operation,
any information that is sent by the workstations is
passed around the whole network (regardless of the
destination of the information) which results in a lot
of unnecessary traffic that can consume valuable
bandwidth.
The switch solves this problem because it reads the
network traffic and automatically learns what
workstations can be reached through each of its
ports. It can then selectively pass on any information
by transmitting the traffic from the relevant port only
(instead of all ports like a repeater hub). This
operation is called ‘switching’.
The switch effectively divides up your network,
localizing the network traffic and passing on traffic
as necessary, as shown in
. If you have
workstations that communicate frequently in the
same part of the network, traffic between them is not
passed to the remainder of the network, reducing
the load. This is often referred to as segmenting the
network. A high performance workstation requiring a