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Networking Fundamentals
For additional study materials and more detailed information about server
hardware, access the IBM and the Sun Microsystems Web sites. For detailed
information on SCSI technology, access the Adaptec Web site.
Summary
■ Servers play many roles in a network, such as print server, fi le server, database
server, application server, backup server, Web server, and mail server.
■ A thin server has only the hardware and software needed to support and
run a specifi c function, or role.
■ A thin client server provides applications and processing power to a thin client.
■ The thin client relies on a thin client server’s processor and memory for
processing data and running software applications.
■ Typically, entry-level servers contain 1 to 8 processors; mid-range servers
contain 9 to 30 processors; and high-end servers contain 31 to 106 processors.
■ Servers typically incorporate hot-swap technology to allow components to be
removed or installed while the system is running.
■ System resources associated with hardware are Direct Memory Access (DMA),
interrupt request (IRQ), I/O port address, and memory address assignment.
■ When two hardware devices share the same resource assignment, a system
confl ict occurs.
■ The most common RAID levels are RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 5.
■ RAID 0 is known as striping. Striping increases data read/write speed but
does not provide fault tolerance.
■ RAID 1 is mirroring or duplexing two hard disk drives.
■ RAID 5 is known as striping with parity, which combines data read/write
speed with fault tolerance.
■ Network Attached Storage (NAS) is a device or collection of devices used to
provide storage for a local area network. The NAS shares the bandwidth of
the local network.
■ Storage Area Network (SAN) is a separate network dedicated to data storage.
It does not affect the bandwidth of the other connected networks.
■ The iSCSI standard is an IP-based storage technology that uses IPv4 and IPv6
network addresses to identify storage devices on a LAN, MAN, or WAN.
Review Questions
Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper. Please do not write in this book.
1. What are some typical services that servers provide?
2. What is a thin server and what applications can it be used for?
3. What is a thin client server and what applications can it be used for?
4. What does the term hot-swap mean?
5. What type of motherboard is commonly used for servers?
6. Which server component is responsible for the POST?
7. How many devices can be connected to a Fast/Wide SCSI-2 chain?
8. What is the bus width of Fast SCSI-2?
9. What is the bus width of Fast/Wide SCSI-2?