Keywords
Citation
Poulter, D. (1998), "LAN, ATM, and LAN Emulation Technologies", Internet Research, Vol. 8 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/intr.1998.17208eaf.006
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 1998, MCB UP Limited
LAN, ATM, and LAN Emulation Technologies
LAN, ATM, and LAN Emulation Technologies
Daniel Minoli and Anthony Alles1996Artech House, Inc, Norwood, MA309 pp.ISBN 0-89006-916-6.Available from Artech House Publishers, 685, Canton Street, Norwood, MA 020621$90.00
Keywords Local area networks, Wide area networks
The possible technological directions an organisation can take towards implementing a local area network (LAN) have grown dramatically in the last few years and the plethora of choices is continuing to increase. The authors of LAN, ATM and LAN Emulation Technologies, Daniel Minoli and Anthony Alles, attempt to make sense out the alphabet soup of choices in LAN technologies. Among the technologies covered are ATM, Fast-Ethernet, gigabit LANs and token ring. In addition the authors cover established technologies such as bridging and routing.
As the authors clearly state, this is a textbook. It requires a certain level of understanding of LAN technologies. The authors successfully minimise this need by giving a brief overview of the current technologies and define many of the factors that must be considered before migrating to a new technology. In most of the cases where a more thorough knowledge of an underlying technology is needed, the authors point this out in footnotes. One of the great aspects of this text is the extensive glossary which allows even the veteran to quickly decipher the acronyms.
The authors clearly state that there is no absolutely correct answer to the type of network needed, but that every situation must be viewed independently. In order to enable the reader to make the appropriate choice, the authors give many of the advantages and disadvantages of each technology. This gives the reader the opportunity not to be in a specific mindset when approaching a problem but to be able to approach it objectively. Overall this is an excellent text and would be a good addition to a practitioner's library.
Dale PoulterSystems ManagerInformation Technology Services Department,Texas Tech University Library