Chapter 1: Introduction
Gigabit Ethernet technology
Gigabit Ethernet is an extension of IEEE 802.3 Ethernet. It uses the same packet structure, format, and support for CSMA/CD protocol, full duplex, and flow control, but with a tenfold increase in theoretical throughput over
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 use applications that generate more traffic. Upgrading key components, 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
Because data transfers occur 10 times faster than Fast Ethernet, servers outfitted with Gigabit Ethernet NIC’s are able to perform 10 times the number of operations in the same amount of time.
Switching technology
Another key development pushing the limits of Ethernet technology is in the field of switching technology. A switch bridges Ethernet packets at the MAC address level of the Ethernet protocol transmitting among connected Ethernet or Fast Ethernet LAN segments.
Switching is a
The switch acts as a
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