3
I
N T R O D U C T I O N
This section describes the features of the 5-Port 1000BASE-T
Gigabit Ethernet Switch, as well as providing some
background information about Gigabit Ethernet and switching
technology.
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 100-Mbps Fast Ethernet and a hundredfold
increase over 10-Mbps Ethernet. Since it is compatible with all
10-Mbps and 100-Mbps 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 supports video conferencing, complex
imaging, and similar data-intensive applications. Likewise,
since data transfers occur 10 times faster than Fast Ethernet,
