Ethernet Terminology Explained
Technology can be fairly daunting to understand, especially when the names and terms applied to it sound overly complicated. This article aims to break down the terms most commonly used when referring to ‘Ethernet’ and provide simple explanations and overviews.
LAN & WAN
LAN stands for Local Area Network. This is the name given when a group of computers that are in close proximity have network connectivity. It means that the users of the computers can share resources with each other without having to resort to email or using a USB stick to transfer them. A LAN can also be used to connect to a printer or to share internet access between computers.
A WAN is a Wide Area Network. Unlike a LAN, where the computers have to be fairly close to each other, with a WAN the computers can be on the other side of the globe. A WAN is made up of several major LANs connected together – a router then connects the LANs to a WAN. The biggest and most foremost example of a WAN would be the Internet.
PROTOCOL
A protocol is a standard or a rule that applies to the way computers and the technology associated with them work. As so many people across the world have completely different computer systems it makes sense to have protocols that ‘govern’ how computers transmit, transfer and use data. If we did not use protocols the majority of computers would not be able to communicate with each other. A protocol that you may have come across is ‘HTTP’ – this protocol determines how data and information are interpreted and displayed as web pages in a browser.
KBPS/MBPS/GBPS
These abbreviations refer to the speed of a network connection that is measured in ‘bits per second’. Kbps stands for ‘kilobits … Read More