How is Token Ring different?
Well, in Token Ring, there is a token. Only the machine with the Token may transmit. This is collision avoidance. While a station is transmitting, it holds the token and no-one else on the ring can transmit. After that station is finished, and the last frame makes a complete ciruit of the ring, the Token is passed on; everyone gets a chance to transmit eventually and the problem of collision is avoided. There is also all kinds of complicated shit to do with priorities, requesting the token, and beaconing which I’m not going into here. You can look it up if you really want. The data is still broadcast to everyone on the ring (see: Network Topologies) although, as with Ethernet, only the NIC to whom it is addressed need read it. Each machine on the ring accepts the frame, passing it to the next logical machine in the ring. What about speeds and price? Traditionally, Token Ring is slow. Up until a couple of years ago, you had a choice of 4 or 16 Mbps (while Ethernet was happily operating
