Networking The Complete Reference, Third Edition

CHAPTER

12 Networking Protocols

Although the vast majority of local area networks (LANs) use one of the Ethernet variants, other data link layer protocols provided their own unique advantages. Chief among these advantages was the use of media access control mechanisms (MACs) other than Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD). Token Ring and Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) were both viable LAN protocols that approached the problem of sharing a network cable in a wholly different way.

Token Ring

Token Ring was the traditional alternative to the Ethernet protocol at the data link layer. The supporters of Token Ring were and, in many cases are, stalwart, and while it did not ever overtake Ethernet in popularity, ...