26-port 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit & Fast Ethernet Switch
Gigabit Ethernet Technology
Gigabit Ethernet is an extension of IEEE 802.3 Ethernet utilizing the same packet structure, format, and support for CSMA/CD proto- col, full duplex, flow control, and management objects, but with a tenfold increase in theoretical throughput over 100-Mbps Fast Ethernet and a hundredfold increase over 10-Mbps Ethernet. Since it is compatible with all 10-Mbps and 100-Mbps Ethernet environ- ments, Gigabit Ethernet provides a straightforward upgrade without wasting a company’s existing investment in hardware, software, and trained personnel.
The increased speed and extra bandwidth offered by Gigabit Ethernet are essential to coping with the network bottlenecks that frequently develop as computers and their busses get faster and more users using applications that generate more traffic. Upgrading key compo- nents, such as your backbone and servers to Gigabit Ethernet can greatly improve network response times as well as significantly speed up the traffic between your subnets.
Gigabit Ethernet supports video conferencing, complex imaging, and similar data-intensive applications. Likewise, since data transfers occur 10 times faster than Fast Ethernet, servers outfitted with Giga- bit Ethernet NIC’s are able to perform 10 times the number of opera- tions in the same amount of time.
The phenomenal bandwidth delivered by Gigabit Ethernet was the most cost-effective method to take advantage of today’s rapidly improving switching and routing internetworking technologies. And with expected advances in silicon technology and digital signal pro- cessing that enabled Gigabit Ethernet to eventually operate over unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cabling, outfitting your network with a powerful 1000-Mbps-capable backbone/server connection creates a flexible foundation for the next generation of network technology products.
