The Impact Of Ethernet Switch Technology

Network managers today must contend with the requirements of utilizing faster media, mounting bandwidth and play “traffic cop” to an ever-growing network infrastructure. Now, more than ever, it’s imperative for them to understand the basics of using various Ethernet technologies to manage their networks.

This tutorial will explain the basic principles of Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet technologies, describing how each improves on basic Ethernet technology. It will offer guidance on how to implement these technologies as well as some “rules of the road” for successful repeater selection and usage. It is nearly impossible to discuss networking without the mention of Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet. But, in order to determine which form is needed for your application, it’s important to first understand what each provides and how they work together. A good starting point is to explain what Ethernet is. Simply, Ethernet is a very common method of networking computers in a LAN using copper cabling. Capable of providing fast and constant connections, Ethernet can handle about 10,000,000 bits per second and can be used with almost any kind of computer.

While that may sound fast to those less familiar with networking, there is a very strong demand for even higher transmission speeds, which has been realized by the Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet specifications (IEEE 802.3u and IEEE 802.3z respectively). These LAN (local area network) standards have raised the Ethernet speed limit from 10 megabits per second (Mbps) to 100Mbps for Fast Ethernet and 1000Mbps for Gigabit Ethernet with only minimal changes made to the existing cable structure. The building blocks of today's networks call out for a mixture of legacy 10BASE-T Ethernet networks and the new protocols. Typically, 10Mbps networks utilize Ethernet switches to improve the overall efficiency of the Ethernet network. Between Ethernet switches, Fast Ethernet repeaters are used to connect a group of switches together at the higher 100 Mbps rate. However, with an increasing number of users running 100Mbps at the desktop, servers and aggregation points such as switch stacks may require even greater bandwidth. In this case, a Fast Ethernet backbone switch can be upgraded to a Gigabit Ethernet switch which supports multiple 100/1000 Mbps switches. High performance servers can be connected directly to the backbone once it has been upgraded.

Most network managers have already migrated from 10BASE-T or other Ethernet 10Mbps variations to higher bandwidth networks. Fast Ethernet ports on Ethernet switches are used to provide even greater bandwidth between the workgroups at 100Mbps speeds. New backbone switches have been created to offer support for 1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet uplinks to handle network traffic. Equipment like Fast Ethernet repeaters will be used in common areas to group Ethernet switches together with server farms into large 100Mbps pipes. This is currently the most cost effective method of growing networks within the average enterprise.

By: Peter Gambogi

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Justin McMillan is the author of this article on Ethernet Switch. Find more information about Ethernet Switches here.