Allied Telesis AT-S83 - Manual (Page 32)

Chapter 2: Introduction
32
Ethernet Technology
This section describes the Ethernet technology used by the AT-S83
software.
Fast Ethernet
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 and server response times.
Among them, Fast Ethernet, or 100T, provides a smooth evolution from
10T 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 that uses 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 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 time as well as significantly speed up the traffic between
subnetworks.
Gigabit Ethernet enabled fast optical fiber connections to support video
conferencing, complex imaging, and similar data-intensive applications. In
addition, since data transfers occur at 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.