Introduction:
One factor that is often a key to select a LAN is whether it must
connect with other systems. If so, a server based solution is probably
the best choice. This is because server based LANs are prevalent in the
business world where networks are more sophisticated Consequently, there
is a wide range of compatible products available to link the LAN with
other computers.
The type and configuration of the NICs used on our network should be
chosen based on several factors: These factors are speed, cost, and
expansions use either the Ethernet or ARCHnet topologies. These are
advantage and disadvantage to both. Ethernet provides a fast interface
to the file server, however its performance can degrade as the network
traffic increase. For a small 5 to 25 – node network, this should not
present a problem. ARCHnet is slower than Ethernet but does not suffer
from the same performance degradation as traffic increase.
Another choice we must make is which topology to use. For server based
LANs such as Netware, we must decide. As there is an increasing demand
for interconnecting networks, it makes sense to adopt a standard
topology. The two widely used ones are Ethernet and IBM Token Ring.
