Network Technologies

It is easy to get caught up in discussions about what is the best technology to use in a network. An important consideration for a Highschool network is can you afford to make a wrong choice?

Ethernet is a proven technology. Solutions from different vendors interoperate. It is sufficent for most current needs but new computers have audio/visual options that may demand higher performance.
Fast Ethernet or 100Mbps ethernet is a new technology. It is showing lots of promise. Expect to see better interoperability and lower prices in the next 6 months to a year.
FDDI/CDDI is a commonly used backbone technology but has not gained wide acceptance at the desktop. It works great in small networks (<20 FDDI stations) but has problems as networks grow.
ATM has a lot of potential. It works great in single vendor enviroments. Be carefull about advertised speeds. Typical TCP/IP throughput is 50% of advertised rates.