Site home page
(news and notices)

Get alerts when Linktionary is updated

Book updates and addendums

Get info about the Encyclopedia of Networking and Telecommunicatons, 3rd edition (2001)

Download the electronic version of the Encyclopedia of Networking, 2nd edition (1996). It's free!

Contribute to this site

Electronic licensing info

 

 

Token Ring Network

Related Entries    Web Links    New/Updated Information

  
Search Linktionary (powered by FreeFind)

Note: Many topics at this site are reduced versions of the text in "The Encyclopedia of Networking and Telecommunications." Search results will not be as extensive as a search of the book's CD-ROM.

Token ring is the IEEE 802.5 standard for a token-passing ring network with a star-configured physical topology. Internally, signals travel around the network from one station to the next in a ring. Physically, each station connects to a central hub called a MAU (multistation access unit). The MAU contains a "collapsed ring," but the physical configuration is a star topology. When a station is attached, the ring is extended out to the station and then back to the MAU as shown. If a station goes offline, the ring is reestablished with a bypass at the station connector.

Token ring was popular for an extended period in the late 1980s and 1990s, especially in IBM legacy system environments. IBM developed the technology and provided extensive support for connections to SNA systems. More recently, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and Gigabit Ethernet technologies have pushed token ring and other LAN technologies to the sidelines.




Copyright (c) 2001 Tom Sheldon and Big Sur Multimedia.
All rights reserved under Pan American and International copyright conventions.