3Com LANPLEX 2500, User Manual

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AppleTalk® Network Elements 7-3
AppleTalk® Zones An AppleTalk zone is a logical collection of nodes on an AppleTalk internet.
A zone can include all nodes in a single network or a collection of nodes in
different networks. You assign a unique name to each zone to identify it in
the internet. Figure 7-1 illustrates the relationship between physical
AppleTalk networks and logical AppleTalk zones.
Figure 7-1 AppleTalk Networks and AppleTalk Zones
Figure 7-1 shows an AppleTalk internet with three networks: 47-47, 20-40,
and 8-8. Three AppleTalk zones span the networks in this internet:
Administration, Accounting, and Marketing. Network 20-40 includes two
nodes in the Administration zone and five nodes in the Accounting zone.
Network 47-47 includes a node from the Accounting zone as well as the
Marketing nodes. Network 8-8 consists of nodes in the Administration zone
only.
Creating zones within a network reduces the amount of searching a router
has to do to find a resource on the network. For example, you may want to
gain access to a printer on the network. Instead of searching the whole
network when you want to print a file to a certain printer, the router
searches for it within a particular zone. You gain access to the printer more
Zone: Administration
Zone: Accounting
Zone: Marketing
Router
Router
Network 8-8
Network 20-40
Network 47-47
Router