Local area networks, from offices to buildings to homes, are one of the three major classes or types of networks you will encounter in the real world. If you decide to build a career in network engineering, you will probably start by working in an environment with a LAN.
Because LANs are almost universal, you should understand the terms and ideas used in wiring buildings and homes. These include the BDF, IDF, wiring closets, risers, zones used in building wiring, and the demarc, MODEM, firewall, router, switch, and AP used in home networks.
Configuring a wireless home network is also an important skill.
One key to doing well on the exams is to perform repetitive-spaced review sessions. Review this chapter’s material using either the tools in the book or interactive tools for the same material found on the book’s companion website. Refer to the online Appendix D, “Study Planner,” element for more details.
Table 11-2 outlines the key review elements and where you can find them. To better track your study progress, record when you completed these activities in the second column.
Table 11-2 Chapter Review Tracking Review All the Key Topics
Table 11-3 lists the key topics for this chapter.
Table 11-3 Key Topics for Chapter 11
Key terms in this chapter include
BDF IDF wiring closet server room riser zoned access MODEM DOCSIS F connector cable cutting OtT demarc CPE SSID guest network Concepts and Actions
Review the concepts considered in this chapter using Table 11- 4. You can cover the right side of this table and describe each concept or action in your own words to verify your understanding.
Table 11-4 Concepts and Actions
Chapter 12. Wide Area Networks This chapter covers the following exam topics:
1. Standards and Concepts
1.3. Differentiate between LAN, WAN, MAN, CAN, PAN, and WLAN.
Identify and illustrate common physical and logical network topologies Local area networks (LANs), discussed in the previous chapter, are the first major place or class of networks. Wide area networks (WANs) are the second major place or class of networks. Chapter 13, “Data Centers and Fabrics, ” considers the third major class of networks—data center fabrics.
Although these three classes of networks use the same basic technologies, these technologies are applied to a unique set of problems. For LANs, the problem is providing service into enclosed spaces—primarily different kinds of buildings. Even the home network faces a unique problem in being easy enough to configure and use for users with little or no training.
The unique challenges of WANs are the sheer geographic distances to cover, and the natural terrain and obstacles to carrying digital across these spaces. Engineers face many problems when covering vast geographic distances, including
• Squirrels, groundhogs, mice, and other rodents destroying cables
• Wind, rain, ice, temperature variations, and other weather
• Crossing under water, through (or over) mountains, and other geographic “features”
• Supporting the physical weight of cables carried under the ocean or through the air
• Providing power to long-run network cables and their related facilities
This chapter gives a broad overview of the topologies, challenges, and providers who work to bring digital signals across long distances.