Networking Explained, 2nd Edition

Chapter 10: Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) 353

4. So why should I bother studying about FDDI networks?

Simple. You are going to encounter FDDI networks in just about any larger company.

Additionally, many telecommunications companies operate metropolitan area networks

(MANs) that consist largely of FDDI or FDDI emulations over faster networks such as the

synchronous optical network, SONET (see Chapter 7).

5. What makes FDDI special compared to other 100-Mbps networks?

First, FDDI can be configured as two independent, counterrotating ring networks,

called a Class A configuration (Figure 10.2). This greatly increases network reliability. If

the ...