3. Theory of Operation
38
between Ethernet and IEEE 802.3 standards. Several differences are listed in the
"
Older Ethernet and IEEE 802.3 Differences
" table.
If older Ethernet and IEEE 802.3 hardware/software are improperly mixed on a network,
different sections of the network suffer from a chronic inability to communicate with each
other, while no apparent hardware faults show up during testing. The ZT 8995 is
hardware compatible with the IEEE 802.3 frame format and ideally should not be mixed
with the older (pre-certified) ethernet controllers.
The frame format used by the transmission data link layer is typically defined by the
network operating system and application software at the network layer or higher. Some
software manufacturers include utilities that allow the system to be configured. For
example, Novell provides a special utility called ECONFIG that allows the network
administrator to configure the interface to either the Ethernet or IEEE
802.3
specification.
If incompatibilities persist, a protocol analyzer may reveal incongruities in the frame
formats. Several protocol analysis tools are available for Ethernet and IEEE 802.3
networks. Vendors of complete systems include Network General Corp., Hewlett-
Packard Co., and Excelan, Inc.. FTP Software, Inc., which also supplies TCP/IP
software, has developed a software-based tool that turns a workstation into an analyzer.
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