Routers

A Router is a device that is used to connect two or more networks. Routers have the capability to determine the best path to route data and locate alternative pathways so that the data reaches its destination.
A Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) router usually has four ports and the prices range from US$47.99- US$65.99

A cable router has four ports and as the name suggests, routes data which is sent between your home computer and your cable internet service provider (ISP) to where it needs to go. For example, if two computers are connected on your home network and one of them is used to access a particular file on the second computer, the cable router gets the information request from the first computer and routes it to the second computer. If the second computer is trying to view a web page, the cable router takes this request and forwards it to the cable Internet service provider. When the ISP sends the web page information back, the cable router then sends it to the second computer. The price range for the cable router is between US$35.75 - US$47.69
In a home network, the bus topology is used which consists of a network cable that forms a single bus to which every computer or peripheral device (example: printer) is attached.
Terminators may be needed as additional hardware as they are special connectors which are used to signify the end of a circuit.
My personal computer which is the Dell inspiron 531s has a router connected to it, along with a printer and a second computer. This allows me to be able to exchange data and view files which are available on the second computer using my personal computer.

An Introduction to WIFI standards

The IEEE 802.11 which stands for Institute of electrical and electronics engineers is a standard
of communication between computers and wireless devices used worldwide for Wireless local
area network (WLAN). These standards were set by IEEE LAN/MAN Standard committee in
5GHZ and 2.4 GHz public spectrum bands. Some of the widely used standards include: the
802.11b, 802.11a, and 802.11g. Other WIFI standards include the 802.11c, 802.11d, 802.11f, 802.11i and 802.11e.


802.11b

Year developed *1999
Bandwidth support *Up to 11 Mbps, comparable to Ethernet.
Operating Frequency *2.4GHz ISM
Transfer Rate (theoretical) 1, 2, 5.5, 11Mbps
Transfer Rate (throughput) *4Mbps (average)
Mechanism *Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)
Channels Available *11 (3 non-overlapping)
Maximum Range *175ft. (average)
Advantages *Lowest cost; signal range is best and is not easily obstructed
Disadvantages *Slowest maximum speed; supports fewer simultaneous users; appliances may interfere on the unregulated frequency band
Other *Can incur interference from microwave ovens, cordless phones, and other appliances using the same 2.4 GHz range.

802.11a

Year developed *1999
Bandwidth support *To 54 Mbps and signals in a regulated 5 GHz range.
Operating Frequency *5.8 GHz Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (UNII)
Transfer Rate (theoretical) up to 54Mbps
Transfer Rate (throughput) *20 - 36 (approximate average)
Mechanism *Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM
Channels Available *12 (all non-overlapping)
Maximum Range *80ft. (average)
Advantages *Fastest maximum speed; supports more simultaneous users; regulated frequencies prevent signal interference from other devices
Disadvantages *Highest cost; shorter range signal that is more easily obstructed
Other *Due to its higher cost, 802.11a fits predominately in the business market, whereas 802.11b better serves the home market.

802.11g

Year developed *2002
Bandwidth support *Up to 54 Mbps
Operating Frequency *2.4 GHz
Transfer Rate (theoretical) 54Mbps
Transfer Rate (throughput) *20 - 30 (average)
Mechanism *Complimentary Code Keying (CCK), OFDM
Channels Available *Complimentary Code Keying (CCK), OFDM
Maximum Range *175ft (average)
Advantages *Fastest maximum speed; supports more simultaneous users; signal range is best and is not easily obstructed
Disadvantages *Costs more than 802.11b; appliances may interfere on the unregulated signal frequency
Other *Attempts to combine the best of both 802.11a and 802.11g.
*802.11g access points will work with 802.11b wireless network adapters and vice versa.


802.11c
This standard is responsible for helping to ensure effective bridged connections between access points.
Companies and universities often utilized this standard when attempting to span their networks across
various environments such as building and other wide-spread installations requiring bridged
communication

802.11d
After its initial inception, 802.11 had very little to worry about in regards to stepping on the proverbial
electronic feet of others. The introduction of the 802.11d standard task group has its sights set on
making the widespread proliferation and adoption of 802.11 a globally pleasant experience. 802.11d is
an ongoing standard group which seeks to further enhance as well as define new PHY requirements that
comply with regulatory standards existent within other countries. This standard is of particular
importance for groups which utilize the 5 GHz band as the use of the frequency differs dramatically

from country to country.

802.11f
The main function of the 802.11f standards work group is to help resolve the issue of inter-compatibility
between access points from different vendors. The 802.11 protocol was initially designed without such
specific constraints as to allow for maximum flexibility when working with different systems. However,
the rapid proliferation of diverse wireless networking technology from numerous vendors has spawned
the need for an established standard allowing users to maximize their mobility. The focus of the 802.11f
working group is to help promote WIFI allowing for enhanced compatibility between various wireless
vendors and their products.

802.11i
After WEP encryption was effectively surpassed in August 2001, the 802.11i work group began to
receive more attention, specifically since its main focus is enhanced wireless security. 802.11i is a two
layer standard group which focuses both on issues concerning 802.1X (not a part of the 802.11 standard)
and network security, as well as a deeper look into a specific WEP security fix called Temporal Key Integrity (TKI).

802.11e
802.11e is a standard of increasing importance as the utilization of wireless transmission of voice and
video continues to expand on a daily basis. Since its inception the 802.11 standard has lacked any
mechanism for the prioritization and organization of wireless network traffic. The focus of the 802.11e
standard work group is to promote and improve Quality of Service for both audio and video across the
entire 802.11 standard. Its implementation will allow for backwards compatibility with existing wireless

Motherboard Specifications

Motherboard Specification

Following are the specifications for the South Lake 2 Motherboard.

Form Factor D915GSN: BTX Form Factor (11.2 × 10.5 inches)
Processor Support for an Intel® Pentium® 4 processor in an LGA775 socket with an 800 or 533 MHz system bus
Memory • Four DDR2 (only) SDRAM Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) sockets
• Support for DDR2 400 MHz and DDR 333 MHz DIMMs
• Support for up to 4 GB of system memory
Chipset Intel 915G Chipset, consisting of:
• Intel 82915G Graphics Memory Controller Hub (GMCH)
• Intel 82801FB I/O Controller Hub (ICH6)
• 4 Mbit Firmware Hub (FWH)
Video Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 with up to 128 MB shared memory
Audio Intel High Definition Audio subsystem using the Realtek ALC860 audio codec
I/O Control LPC Bus I/O controller
USB Support for USB 2.0 devices
Peripheral Interfaces • Six USB ports (four on back panel, two internal)
• One serial port
• One parallel port
• Four Serial ATA interfaces
• One Parallel ATA IDE interface with UDMA 33, ATA-66/100 support
• One diskette drive interface
• PS/2 keyboard port
• PS/2 mouse port
• Two front IEEE-1394a connectors
LAN Support 10/100/1000 Mbits/sec LAN subsystem using Marvell® Yukon™ 88E8050 PCIe GbE
BIOS Intel/AMI BIOS (resident on the 4 Mbit FWH)
Instantly Available PC Technology • Support for PCI Local Bus Specification Revision 2.2
• Support for PCI Express Revision 1.0a
• Suspend to RAM support
• Wake on PCI, RS-232, front panel, PS/2 devices, and USB ports
Expansion Capabilities • Three PCI Conventional bus connectors
• One PCI Express x1 bus add-in card connector
• One PCI Express x16 bus add-in card connector
Hardware Monitor Subsystem • Hardware monitoring and fan control ASIC
• Voltage sense to detect out of range power supply voltages
• Thermal sense to detect out of range thermal values
• Three fan connectors
• Three fan sense inputs used to monitor fan activity
• Fan speed control

Computer Specifications

Processors Intel Core i3-330M

2.13GHz- Gigahertz abbreviating GHz is used to measure the clock speed of a processor and is equivalent to one billion hertz.

4Threads- A thread is a series of articles that offers a continuing commentary on the same general subject.

3M cache- Computer caches are memory circuits that serve to speed up a much larger memory drive.

Operating System

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit- the term 64 bit is referring to the maximum number of bits a given CPU can handle at a time, for example a computer with a 64 bit data bus is capable of shuffling data around twice as fast as a CPU with a 32 bit data bus.

Memory


3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz- the 3 Gigabytes (GB ) is used to describe the amount of data the computer is managing either in memory or in longer term storage on disk.

LCD Panel

15.6" HD WLED- 15.6" refers to the size of the monitor screen, while WLED is the abbreviation for white led refers to the backlight used for liquid crystal display (LCD) screens

Hard Drive

250GB, 5400 RPM- Gigabytes (GB) refers to the amount of data the computer can manage and is equivalent tone billion bytes. (1 000 000 000 bytes)

RPM the abbreviation for Revolutions Per Minute refers to how many times the spindle makes a complete three hundred and sixty degree turn in any single minute. The higher the RPM, the faster the data can be read from the platters which increase the overall performance.

CD/DVD Drive


8X CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)

What is an URL?

The URL which stands for Uniform Resource Locator refers to an address used to locate a resource (file or document) on the Internet. A URL can be composed of words, such as ‘blogspot.com’ or its corresponding IP (Internet protocol) address. Each address will take the user to the same website, However since the internet protocol is a group of numbers separated by dots, the name of the website is more often used as it is easiest to remember.

What is a DNS?

A DNS or a domain name service refers to an internet service which converts domain names to IP addresses. This system works whenever the user enters the domain name of a website rather than the IP address since it is harder to recall.

What is Domain name?

A domain name refers to a name which identifies an IP address; however a domain name may also represent more than one IP addresses. Domain names are located in URL’s and are used to identify particular web pages.

What is TCP/IP?
Transmission control protocol/ Internet protocol (TCPIP) is the communication language of the internet. TCPIP is a two layer program; Transmission control protocol controls the conversion of files into smaller packets which are distributed over the Internet and received by a TCP layer which then reassembles the packets into the original message. The lower layer, Internet Protocol, handles the address part of each packet to ensure that it gets to the right destination.

The internet vs. the web

Amoyah Allwood
Id# 24090035
Introduction to computer science
Prof. Michael reid

The words internet and the web has been used interchangeably for many years, however that is in fact the incorrect use of the words as the web is actually a portion of the internet. The internet was developed in the early 1960s and can be defined in many ways but is simply a large global communication network consisting of thousands of smaller networks or in other words a network of networks which allows users worldwide to communicate and share information.
The World Wide Web, also known as the web, or by the acronym- WWW, refers to a way of accessing information from the internet, which can easily be accessed by the use of software called an internet browser.
The World Wide Web and the internet may sometimes be confused with each other, however the web operates over the internet and is one of the ways that information can be distributed across the internet and is therefore a large portion and the most widely used part of the internet. The internet, unlike the World Wide Web is also used for the sending and receiving of e-mails.