Introduction; Fast Ethernet Technology; Gigabit Ethernet Technology - D-Link DES-1048G User Manual

DES-1048G Fast Ethernet/Gigabit 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
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