Reading thoughts, 10/9

*LANs: local area networks
*computer network that connects computers in a limited area (school, home, office, etc.)
*fast data transfer rate
*ethernet and wi-fi are the most common ways to build LANs
*proliferation of personal computers in the late 70s/early 80s required linking computers together in the workplace
*Novell Netware, big name in the business, 1983-mid 90s

Computer Networks:
*collection of computers and other hardware components interconnected by communications channels that allow sharing of resources and information
*classified by several different characteristics : transport medium, communications protocols, scale, etc.
*early networks: military radar system (SAGE), airline reservations systems (SABRE), Dartmouth, MIT, General Electric, Bell Labs
*modern communications would not be possible with computer networking
*you can communicate with others, share data, etc. Possibly insecure (can be hacked fairly easily), tricky to set up
*wired technologies: twisted pair wire (slow), coaxial cable (medium), optical fibers (fast)
*wireless technologies: microwaves, satellites, cellular systems, spread spectrum, infrared, global area network
*internet protocol suite (TCP/IP), the foundation of all modern networking
*network topology types: bus network, star network, ring network, mesh network, fully connected network
*resilience : the ability to provide and maintain an acceptable level of service in the face of faults and challenges to normal operation

RFID:
*stands for "radio frequency identification"
*like a barcode in that it can identify an item uniquely, but is read by an electromagnetic field
*can be read through multiple layers of stuff (like book covers)
*hundreds of different kinds on the market, customizable for many needs
*libraries are good users of RFID because they get multiple uses of a tag, unlike merchants who use them only once
*RFID could have a positive impact on a libraries return on investment, do they make patrons happier?
*tags need to be durable for use in libraries, they get used repeatedly