10/100 Fast Ethernet Switch User’s Guide
2
Introduction
takes advantage of the company’s existing investment in
hardware, software, and personnel training.
Switching Technology
Another approach to push beyond the limits of the Ethernet
technology is the development of switching technology. A switch
bridges Ethernet packets at the MAC address level of the Ethernet
protocol transmitting among connected Ethernet or Fast Ethernet
LAN segments.
Switching is a cost-effective way to increase the total network
capacity available to users on a local area network. A switch
increases network capacity and decreases network loading by
making it possible for a local area network to be divided into
different
segments
which don’t compete with each other for
network transmission capacity, giving a decreased load on each.
The switch acts as a high-speed selective bridge between the
individual segments. Traffic that needs to go from one segment to
another is automatically forwarded by the switch, without
interfering with any other segments. This allows the total network
capacity to be multiplied, while still maintaining the same network
cabling and adapter cards.
For Fast Ethernet networks, a switch is an effective way of
eliminating problems of chaining hubs beyond the “two-repeater
limit.” A switch can be used to split parts of the network into
different collision domains, making it possible to expand your Fast
Ethernet network beyond the 205 meter network diameter limit
for 100BASE-TX networks. Switches supporting both traditional
10Mbps Ethernet and 100Mbps Fast Ethernet are also ideal for
bridging between existing 10Mbps networks and new 100Mbps
networks.