You should connect one end of each of the cables to the network adapters on each computer
and the other end to a switch or hub (this should be straight-through cable, about 5 to 10 ft. long,
which is sometimes called “patch” cable). Your network should resemble the diagram shown in
Figure 1. If you add more computers, you will need both a cable and a port on your hub or
switch for each. This is a physical star topology because all computers are connected to a central
connecting point. However, it is considered a logical bus if you are using a hub, since all
computers will share the connection; or if you are using a switch, the topology is both a physical
and a logical star, since connections are made and broken upon demand and are not shared.
Small 5 or 8 port switches are ideal for this setup and they usually have a number of lights
associated with each port on them. These lights usually tell you whether or not there is activity
on the port, the link speed of the port, and its duplex setting (full or half).
Each workstation must be loaded with an operating system that has a networking component.
These components enable you to configure the hardware and install communications protocols.
Once installed, the protocols must be “bound” to the adapter and other utilities. Most operating
systems including Windows, Linux and Unix have these components built into them (although
this was not always the case), and because the TCP/IP protocol suite is the de facto standard for
network connections, these operating systems come pre-configured with drivers for these
protocols. Our next step is to configure the components using software.