Cabletron Systems 100BASE-FX, Cabling Manual

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Attenuation to Card
Glossary-2
Attenuation
Loss of signal power (measured in decibels) due to transmission through
a cable. Attenuation is dependent on the type, manufacture and
installation quality of cabling, and is expressed in units of loss per length,
most often dB/m.
AUI
Attachment Unit Interface. A cabling type used in Ethernet networks,
designed to connect network stations and devices to transceivers.
Backbone
A portion of a network which provides the interconnection of a number
of separate, smaller networks.
Backplane
The portion of a modular chassis to which all modules are connected.
Typically the backplane provides power and management functions to
each module, and is used to provide networking connections, via buses,
to all modules in the modular chassis.
Bit
Binary Digit. A bit is the smallest unit of information, consisting of a
single binary number. A bit is represented by a numerical value of 1 or 0.
BOOTP
Bootstrap Protocol. Checks MIB variables of an SNMP manageable
device to determine whether it should start up using its existing firmware
or boot up from a network server specifically configured for the purpose.
Branch Group
A collection of MIBs related by common function. These MIBs are
collected into families called branches. See also Leaf Object, MIB Tree.
Bridge
Bridges are network devices which connect two or more separate
network segments while allowing traffic to be passed between the
separate networks when necessary. Bridges read in packets and decide to
either retransmit them or block them based on the destination to which
the packets are addressed.
BRIM
Bridge/Router Interface Module. BRIMs are added to BRIM-capable
Cabletron Systems equipment to provide connections to external
networks through an integrated bridge or router.
Broadcast
A type of network transmission; a broadcast transmission is one which is
sent to every station on the network, regardless of location, identification,
or address.
Buses
Physical portions of the backplane of a modular chassis which pass
information between modules.
Card
See Module.