Internetworking Overview and Remote Access Interface Options

Selecting interface types and determining their interoperability for the various cable connections
are a couple of the most critical components used to construct an internetwork. Although it’s
possible to perform media conversion for some interfaces, it’s far easier to maintain consistency
throughout the design. For example, if a fiber connection is needed to link the router to the
switch, it is generally preferred to use a fiber interface on the router, as opposed to using a copper
interface and then using a copper-to-fiber converter upstream. This is also applicable for
serial connectors—it’s far easier to manage the network when all cables and interfaces are the
same and relevant to that provided by the vendors. To successfully design this standardization,
it is important to know the functionality of each connection and how it might be used to terminate
network interfaces; each of these connections is presented next.