Network Building Blocks
There are only a few basic building blocks that are used in technology
There are many different ways the building blocks can be put together
Existing knowledge, skills, beliefs & (dis)incentives combine to influence how building blocks
are put together
How the building blocks are put together has significant social consequences
De-mystifying Technology Workshop
Martin Wolske
Handout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Node
Network
Interface Card
(NIC)
Media
Interconnect
Device
• Any device directly connected to the network that has been
assigned a unique identifier or address on that network
• MAC Address (also known as the hardware, physical, or
Ethernet address) - The serial number for Ethernet cards
• IP Address - The address used by the Internet protocol
• The hardware necessary for a node to connect to a network
• Ethernet card (wired or wireless) - used for local area networks
(LAN)
• MODEM (cable, DSL, dialup) - used for traditional Internet
• Optical Network Terminal (ONT) - used for fiber-to-the-home
• The communications technology used to connect nodes
• Copper transmit low-voltage electricity (e.g., wired Ethernet;
DSL; Cable; Dialup)
• Fiber optics transmits light (e.g., Fiber-To-The-Home)
• Radio waves (e.g., Wireless Ethernet, or wifi; Bluetooth)
• A device usually used to connect nodes together
• Switch or hub - wired Ethernet Local Area Network (LAN)
• Access point - wireless Ethernet Local Area Network (LAN)
• Router or gateway - builds an Internet by connecting different
LANs together
De-mystifying Technology Workshop
Martin Wolske
Handout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.