Chapter 6 Margin Notes
General Note: Considering the state of today's wired world, this chapter should interest you.
Page 190, "The Networked Enterprise". The Enterprise is the company---this just means that the whole company is networked and connected.
Page 190, Metcalfe's Law. New in the 13th edition---and it's pretty interesting. Perhaps you should look for it on the midterm examination.
Page 191, Real World Case #1, Best Buy, MedStar Health and Unifi. Check it out.
Page 193, Trends in Telecommunications. Pretty interesting, but just remember---everything is going to wireless
Page 194, Open Systems. Open Systems means that a system adheres to commonly accepted standards, and therefore, should be interoperable. For instance, if you buy a lamp, it has a plug on the end that allows it to be connected to your house current. If you buy a lamp that requires you to place one end in a pot of water outside your door to tap into fusion energy, this is an example of a non-open or proprietary system.
Page 195, Internet2. New in the 13th Edition. Are we using this at Penn State?
Page 197, The Internet Revolution. You probably know this already--but the Internet doesn't really have a central computer--although the United States Internet is dependent upon 20 to 30 very important servers.
Page 198, Figure 6.5, Popular uses of the Internet. How many of these have you done? I've done them all.
Page 198, Boeing 777: Using the Internet to Build a World-Class Airplane. This is pretty subtle, and you may be inclined to skip right over it, but consider exactly what was done--it's pretty phenomenal.
Page 199, The Business Value of the Internet. Business Value--the reason we are here. Our bread and butter.
Page 200, The Role of Intranets. An Intranet is an Internet based world that is only available inside a company--the outside public is restricted to getting into a company's Internet---although valuable customers may be given access.
Page 202, Constellation Energy. Check this out to see how an Intranet was used to get employees working together and more productively.
Page 203, The Role of Extranets. I'm not thrilled with the author's definition. An Extranet is a website, built by a company, made specifically available to the outside world or to a select few customers.
Page 204, Countrywide and Snap-on. Check out these examples of Extranets, and the business value they provide their companies.
Page 206, A Telecommunications Network Model. This can be pretty tedious. Do you best to follow it. Telecommunications Network managers can make a lot of money :)
Page 207, Real World Case #2. Metri & Multistandard Components Corp. Check it out.
Page 211, Virtual Private Networks. This is a big buzz word nowadays--the hope is that VPN's can provide security to companies that don't want to open up their Web site to hackers. I think you need to use VPN's if you want to access the Penn State wireless network here at PSU.
Page 211, Forrester. Check it out to see how a VPN is used in their business.
Page 212, Client/server networks. Was the predominant architecture of Enterprise computing--now going the way of Intranets and Extranets.
Page 215, Telecommunications Media. Always a good idea to know how this stuff happens.
Page 217, Wireless Technologies. As I've been telling you, the wave of the future.
Page 217, Bob Evans Farms. Check out their use of a Satellite Network.
Page 214, Bluetooth. What do you know about Bluetooth?
Page 220, The Wireless Web. This is it!
Page 220, UPS. See how Wireless LANs make a difference at UPS.
Page 221, Telecommunications Processors. Pretty boring stuff--unless you're a Network person.
Page 224, Network Topologies. I've never asked about this on an exam--do you see why? It's extremely tedious.
Page 225, Network Architectures and Protocols. Same here.
Page 228, Voice Over IP. Do you know what this is? What is its business value?
Page 228, Seaport Hotel. Neat stuff.
Page 230, Figure 6.26. Check out the relative speeds of various Network Technologies.
Page 230, Real World Case #3. SAIC, Hewlett-Packard, GE and Others. Wireless Sensor Networks--check it out!