During the design of most real-world networks, you'll discover that using more than one type of networking medium is common. The usual reasons for needing more than one type of medium include the following:

• Two or more areas must be interconnected, and the distance separating them is greater than the maximum segment length for the type of medium used in (or best suited for) each area.
• A connection must pass through a high-interference environment (across some large transformers, near heavy-duty electrical motors, and so on). Failure to use a different type of medium increases the risk of impeding data flow. This is an especially popular reason for using thickwire or fiber-optic cable in many networks, especially when connecting floors in an office building and the only available pathway is the elevator shaft.
• Certain parts of a network of networks (also known as an internetwork) might have to carry more traffic than other parts. Typically, the segment where traffic aggregates is the backbone, a common cable segment that interconnects two or more subsidiary networks. (Think of a tree trunk as the backbone and the major branches as cable segments.) Often, a higher-capacity cable is used for a backbone (for example, fiber-optic cable or Category 6 cable rated for Gigabit Ethernet), along with a higher-speed networking technology for attachments to the backbone. This arrange-ment means that outlying segments might use conventional 10 or 100 Mbps Ethernet, and the backbone uses 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps Ethernet.

Using this information, suggest solutions that involve at least two types, if possible, of networking media to address the following projects.

Hands-On Project 3-3 XYZ Corp. is planning a new network. Engineers in the design shop must have connections to accountants and salespeople in the front office, but all routes between the two areas must traverse the shop floor, where arc welders and metal-stamping equipment create potent amounts of EMI and RFI. Given that both the engineering and the front office areas use 10BaseT (twisted-pair Ethernet), how might you interconnect those two areas? What medium guarantees immunity from the interference?

Answer all the questions, and make sure to address all parts of the question.