-Now we couldn't get by without knowing more about the NIC and what common flavors it comes in. Most of the time you will see it as a Ethernet, Token Ring, and FDDI. The Ethernet is about the cheapest route with the rest moving up/down in speed and technology.
-Ethernet, this type architecture will incorporate copper wires to fiber optics at 10 to 100 Mps. You may have heard of a Fast Ethernet and this is considered 100Mps and can support about 500 nodes/workstations.
-Token Ring, if you remember the topology from the previous pages this is simply a network using copper or fiber cables that can run up to 260 nodes/workstations. This can also support 4Mbps to 16Mbps of data transfer between the networks. Your better of in the Ethernet department compared to this one.
-FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interference), This little network is nice to have if money is no object. This comes down to a light or laser transceiver that converts its digital data into light for transmission. You will see this in a network 100 Mbps of data transfer and probably the best way to go if you have the money to invest. Of course all the parts are way more expensive than most other cables etc.
