I
N T R O D U C T I O N
Thank you for choosing LevelOne 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet Card for 32-bit PCI Bus-
equipped personal computers. The 32-bit PCI 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet Card is ideal for
speeding up data transfers for network servers and other computers, such as those used for video-
conferencing, that send and/or receive large amounts of data. The 32-bit PCI 10/100/1000Mbps
Gigabit Ethernet Card also includes the newest networking technologies, such as multicasting support,
that use network bandwidth more efficiently and further help the card maximize data throughput.
Features
Complies with the IEEE802.3 10Base-T, IEEE802.3u 100Base-TX and IEEE802.3ab 1000Base-
T standard
Compliant to PCI Revision 2.1/2.2
Plug-and-Play
installation
One RJ-45 connector, Supports Auto-detects Network speed
Supports IEEE802.1Q VLAN tagging
Supports 10/100/1000Mbps Auto-Negotiation function
Full Duplex support for 10/100/1000Mbps data rates
Auto MDI-II/MDI-X crossover for all three speeds
Built-in FIFO buffers reduces overhead of memory transfers
802.3x Full duplex flow control, including automatic transmission of Pause frames based on Rx
FIFO thresholds
Two LED indicators for easy diagnostic
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, 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 subnets.
Gigabit Ethernet enables Twisted-Pair cable 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.
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