Internetworking Technologies Handbook, Fourth Edition

Appendix B. Early Technologies

This appendix discusses three early technologies: Token Ring/IEEE 802.5, Xerox Network Systems, and Banyan VINES.

Token Ring/IEEE 802.5

The Token Ring network was originally developed by IBM in the 1970s. It is still IBM's primary local-area network (LAN) technology. The related IEEE 802.5 specification is almost identical to and completely compatible with IBM's Token Ring network. In fact, the IEEE 802.5 specification was modeled after IBM Token Ring, and it continues to shadow IBM's Token Ring development. The term Token Ring generally is used to refer to both IBM's Token Ring network and IEEE 802.5 networks. This chapter addresses both Token Ring and IEEE 802.5.

Token Ring and IEEE 802.5 networks are basically compatible, ...