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In this chapter, you learned about
reliable and unreliable network services, connectionless and
connection-oriented services, and frame formats for various LAN and
WAN protocols/technologies. LAN and WAN protocol frame formats have
been laid out in some detail. The work you do for the remainder of
this course, with the exception of SDLC and ATM, will allow you to
hone your expertise in using the information learned in this chapter
to troubleshoot networks. At this point you should have a solid
foundation in the general theory of network protocols. The remainder
of this curriculum will focus on building troubleshooting expertise
one technology at a time.
It's interesting to speculate where
the various LAN and WAN technologies explored in this chapter will
be in 10 years - it may be that Terabit Ethernet, SONET/SDH, and
DWDM will be the primary technologies at that time. However, for now
Frame Relay, ATM, ISDN, DSL, SNA/SDLC, PPP, Ethernet, and Token Ring
are the predominant WAN and LAN technologies of the day. What can be
expected is that a much greater percentage of the world population
will be connected to the Internet and that rich Web-based multimedia
applications will become even more commonplace, realistic, and
reliable.
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