D-Link DES-1218R [11/38] Ntroduction

DES-1218R/DES-1226R 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet Switch User’s Guide

1 INTRODUCTION

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 Ethernet NIC’s are able to perform 10

times the number of operations in the same amount of time.

In addition, the phenomenal bandwidth delivered by Gigabit Ethernet is the most cost-effective

method to take advantage of today and tomorrow’s rapidly improving switching and routing

internetworking technologies.