Editing AppleTalk (section)

== Physical implementation ==
{{multiple image
   | footer    = Interior of Apple LocalTalk interface box. In 1989, these boxes typically cost US$90 each. The connectors feature automatic [[electrical termination]] of the LocalTalk signal bus; insertion of a LocalTalk bus cable depresses a normally closed [[switch]] behind the connector, disabling termination for that connector.
   | width1     = 155
   | image1    = Apple LocalTalk box interior 1.jpg
   | alt1      = Local cable and interior circuit board, port-side view
   | width2     = 125
   | image2    = Apple LocalTalk box interior 2 - auto termination switch.jpg
   | alt2      = Rear view of auto-termination switch with dust cover removed
  }}
[[File:Farlon localtalk.jpg|thumb|Farallon PhoneNET adapter]]
The initial default hardware implementation for AppleTalk was a high-speed serial protocol known as ''[[LocalTalk]]'' that used the [[Macintosh]]'s built-in [[RS-422]] ports at 230.4&nbsp;kbit/s. LocalTalk used a splitter box in the RS-422 port to provide an upstream and downstream cable from a single port. The topology was a [[Bus network|bus]]: cables were daisy-chained from each connected machine to the next, up to the maximum of 32 permitted on any [[LocalTalk]] segment. The system was slow by today's standards, but at the time the additional cost and complexity of networking on PC machines was such that it was common that Macs were the only networked personal computers in an office. Other larger computers, such as UNIX or VAX workstations, would commonly be networked via Ethernet.

Other physical implementations were also available. A very popular replacement for LocalTalk was ''[[PhoneNET]]'', a third-party solution from Farallon Computing, Inc. (renamed [[Netopia]], acquired by [[Motorola]] in 2007) that also used the RS-422 port and was indistinguishable from LocalTalk as far as Apple's LocalTalk port drivers were concerned, but ran over very inexpensive standard phone cabling with four-wire, six-position [[modular connector]]s, the same cables used to connect landline telephones. Since it used the second pair of wires, network devices could even be connected through existing telephone jacks if a second line was not present. Foreshadowing today's network hubs and switches, Farallon provided solutions for PhoneNet to be used in ''star'' as well as ''bus'' configurations, with both ''passive'' star connections (with the phone wires simply bridged to each other at a central point), and ''active'' star with "PhoneNet Star Controller" hub hardware. In a star configuration, any wiring issue only affected one device, and problems were easy to pinpoint. PhoneNet's low cost, flexibility, and easy troubleshooting resulted in it being the dominant choice for Mac networks into the early 1990s.

AppleTalk protocols also came to run over Ethernet (first coaxial and then twisted pair) and [[Token Ring]] physical layers, labeled by Apple as ''EtherTalk'' and ''TokenTalk'', respectively. EtherTalk gradually became the dominant implementation method for AppleTalk as Ethernet became generally popular in the PC industry throughout the 1990s. Besides AppleTalk and [[TCP/IP]], any Ethernet network could also simultaneously carry other protocols such as [[DECnet]] and [[IPX]].