Networking is all around us these days and rarely is a computer actually a standalone computer and not connected to a network one way or another. Ever wondered how information gets from all over the world to your computer and back again.

     Well lets start with why networks were invented in the first place. The first “network” deal was something called sneaker net where someone will copy a file to a disk and then walk to another computer and put the file there. This appeared to work fine in a little office setting where there were only 3 or so computers, but after businesses started growing and expanding more computers were being used and the distance between them was greater than you would like to walk.

     One of the first networks that caught major recognition was 10Base2. This type of network, also known as thin Ethernet, used a thin coaxial cable similar to the type that your TV uses. This cable was the media that transfered information from one computer to another. The name tells you a lot about the network itself 10Base2, the 10 means that it can operate at a maximum of 10mps and can travel a maximum of 185 meters before attenuation occurs (the 2 is suppose to stand for 200, but the number is actually 185.)

     10Base2 also uses what are called BNC (Bayonet Neill-Concelman) connectors to attach the cables to each other as well as to the computers. There are 3 types of BNC connectors that were used on a 10Base2 network and there were a barrel connector, T-Connectors, and a Terminator. The T-connector is what plugged into the 10Base2 network card on the back of the computer. The barrel connector was used to connect two pieces of cable together and the terminator was used to prevent signal from bouncing back and forth on the cable which would cause collisions and interference.

T-Connector

Terminator

Barrel Connector

      The next type of network I will list is 10Base5 and as you can probably guess from the name it is very similar to 10Base2. Another name for this type of network is Thick net because the physical cable itself is very thick coaxial cable that is very difficult to manuver around corners and through offices. This type of cable was used more for the backbone of a network rather than a desktop solution. As you probably remember the 10 means that it can transfer at a maximum of 10mps, it is Base ethernet, and the maximum length is 500 meters before attenuation begins to accour. This type of network is known more as Thick Net network simply because the cable is very think but since it is think this type of connection is used more as infrastructure wiring for a network and in places where interference could be bad.
      10Base5 cable needs an extra connector on the cable to get data off of it. This type of connector is called a vampire tap and it works just like you might guess from the name. The connector has teeth that pierce the cable to make the connection and then a serial cable goes from the AUI to your network card on your switch, router, hub, or computer. The image below shows 10Base5 cable with two vampire taps attached to it.

      I am sure you can see how cumbersum it would be to run this thick cable to all of your workstations for connectivity. That is why 10Base5 is used for the back bone or the infrastructure of the network and the individual workstations used some other technology like 10Base2. Aside from the larger cable and the vampire taps 10Base5 is not that much different that 10Base2.

      Well that pretty much covers it for the older technology you probably won’t see much of anymore but they are always a great place to start. In the second part to this article I will cover 10BaseT 100BaseT and then the logical network topology.

Thanks For Reading
Mike Walton
mwalton@mikenetpc.com