CertiGuide to Network+  9  Chapter 0001:  LAN Cabling       9  IV  Coaxial Cable (Coax)

Coax Termination 1 2 Coax Cable – New Developments

Broadcast Storm

A broadcast storm sends many, many packets out onto the network segment, affecting connectivity by causing so many collisions that legitimate packets cannot get through to their destination. Since broadcast packets are restricted to an individual segment, other segments of the network will appear to be performing normally, but won’t be able to communicate with hosts on the affected segment. They are caused by a host sending out broadcast packets, which require all other hosts to reply, typically with wrong answers that cause more and more packets to be transmitted on the network. To find this, you will have to use a network manager or protocol analyzer program with the capability of analyzing where traffic originates. This will (hopefully) point to the instigator of the storm. If it’s not obvious, you can also try removing stations from the segment one by one. On a small network, simply rebooting all workstations should alleviate the condition.

10Base2 network cable and the coax used for cable TV connections look exactly the same but don’t have the same transmission properties. Be sure to use true 10Base2 network cable, or your network is likely to experience poor performance or intermittent problems.

Coax Termination 1 2 Coax Cable – New Developments