Componentes de Redes - Señales y Cables

Network Components

• Analog signals represent data as continuously changing wave values, while digital signals encode data as discrete voltage values.
• Digital signals are more reliable over long distances than analog signals.
• Synchronous communications require a timing component for reliability and higher speeds, while asynchronous communications don't require timing.
• Baseband technology uses the entire communication channel, while broadband divides it into independent subchannels.
• Coaxial cable is resistant to electromagnetic interference (EMI), supports longer lengths, and offers higher bandwidth.
• Twisted-pair cable's performance relies on wire twisting, insulation type, material quality, and shielding.
• Fiber-optic cables transmit data as light waves, are resistant to EMI/RFI, offer high speeds, and are difficult to tap.
• Line noise represents random fluctuations in electrical-magnetic impulses.
• Attenuation is the loss of signal strength over distance.
• Crosstalk is the interference of one wire's signal onto another.

Network Devices

• Repeaters simply repeat electrical signals between cable segments, extending network range.
• Bridges connect LAN segments (or VLANs), expanding LAN range and learning network environments.
• Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) ensures frames don't loop, providing redundant paths and assigning priorities.
• Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) is a more efficient protocol than STP.
• Switches are multiport bridges with additional management features.
• Routers connect different networks, work at the network layer (IP addresses), and handle network segments.
• Gateways act as translators between different environments, often restricting interactions.
• Private Branch Exchanges (PBXs) are private telephone switches within an organization.
• Proxy servers act as intermediaries between clients and servers.
• Network Access Control (NAC) manages network access policies.
• Endpoints are computing devices that communicate through a network.
• Content Distribution Networks (CDNs) distribute content across multiple servers for optimized user access.

Network Concepts

• Bandwidth is the maximum information transfer rate over a link.
• Data Throughput is the actual data transferred over a link.