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DES-1218/DES-1226 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet Switch User’s Guide
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NTRODUCTION
This section describes the features of the Switch, as well as giving some background information
about Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, and switching technology.
Fast Ethernet Technology
The growing importance of LANs and the increasing complexity of desktop computing
applications are fueling the need for high performance networks. A number of high-speed LAN
technologies are proposed to provide greater bandwidth and improve client/server response
times. Among them, Fast Ethernet, or 100BASE-T, provides a non-disruptive, smooth evolution
from 10BASE-T technology.
100Mbps Fast Ethernet is a standard specified by the IEEE 802.3 LAN committee. It is an
extension of the 10Mbps Ethernet standard with the ability to transmit and receive data at
100Mbps, while maintaining the Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection
(CSMA/CD) Ethernet protocol.
Gigabit Ethernet Technology
Gigabit Ethernet is an extension of IEEE 802.3 Ethernet utilizing the same packet structure,
format, and support for CSMA/CD protocol, full duplex, flow control, and management objects,
but with a tenfold increase in theoretical throughput over 100Mbps Fast Ethernet and a one
hundred-fold increase over 10Mbps Ethernet. Since it is compatible with all 10Mbps and
100Mbps Ethernet environments, 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 is 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 subnetworks.
Gigabit Ethernet enables fast optical fiber connections to support video conferencing, complex
imaging, and similar data-intensive applications. Likewise, since 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.
In addition, the phenomenal bandwidth delivered by Gigabit Ethernet is the most cost-effective
method to take advantage of today and tomorrow’s rapidly improving switching and routing
internetworking technologies.