Networking Explained, 2nd Edition

Chapter 6

Network Hardware Components

(Layers 1 and 2)

In Chapter 4, we focused mostly on network media and the physical layer (layer 1 of the

OSI model) but did not discuss any specific layer 1 components. Similarly, in Chapter 5,

we examined the data link layer (layer 2 of the OSI model) but did not provide any infor-

mation about layer 2 devices. In this chapter we make up for these intentional omissions

by presenting various layer 1 and layer 2 devices, including connectors, transceivers and

media converters, repeaters, network interface cards and PC cards, bridges, and switches.

An outline of the devices we discuss follows:

• Connectors (Questions 1–6)

• Transceivers (Questions 7–12)

• Repeaters (Questions 13–19)

• Media Converters (Question 20) ...