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Gigabit Ethernet
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by Jayant Kadambi, Ian Crayford, and Mohan Kalkunte
Sales Rank: 416369
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$0.71
At Amazon
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Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR; 1st edition 1998
ISBN-10: 0139132864
ISBN-13: 978-0139132865
Product Dimensions:
9.5 x 7.2 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
Product Review
Though formed from the classic textbook mold, Gigabit Ethernet: Migrating to High-Bandwidth LANs delivers rapier-sharp insight not only into the history of Ethernet-based networking, but also into the new and rapidly changing world of high-speed networking as personified in Gigabit Ethernet. An excellent reference, this book is not for technology lightweights. However, the superior glossary and profusion of topology and explanatory diagrams are useful resources.
In the three chapters devoted to each of its offspring--10 Mbps or Ethernet, 100 Mbps or Fast Ethernet, and 1000 Mbps or Gigabit Ethernet--the authors methodically outline Ethernet's history. While all the chapters are excellent, the chapter on Fast Ethernet is particularly thought provoking in its appraisal of the factors that led to the standard's success. The authors even touch on a technology battle that Fast Ethernet eventually won, though many considered it the weaker of the competing standards. Whether these lessons will apply to Gigabit Ethernet as it goes head-to-head with high-speed technologies such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) remains to be seen. Kadambi, Crayford, and Kalkunte paint a rosy picture, maintaining that Gigabit has an excellent shot at rapidly gaining market share, at least in certain segments.
The volume closes with two strong chapters on Gigabit Ethernet applications and the future of Gigabit. Though heavily tinged with optimism, the book enumerates both the challenges inherent in implementing Gigabit and the complementary technologies needed for it to truly succeed. --Sarah L. Roberts-Witt
From the Inside Flap
Preface
Gigabit Ethernet is the latest in a series of networks based upon Ethernet, simply the most successful LAN networking technology in history. Ethernet began as a 3 Mb/s network that operated over coaxial cable. It was then standardized by the IEEE in 1982 as a predominantly 10 Mb/s network. Ethernet then evolved to support thin coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, and unshielded twisted-pair. The standardization of Ethernet over ordinary unshielded twisted-pair cable led to a growth in Ethernet that few people at the time imagined. Millions upon millions of Ethernet adapters, repeaters, and other networking equipment required to connect Ethernets together were sold. But this wasn't enough. The rapid increase in computing power, computing resources, and the requirement to interconnect these computing environments led to a requirement for faster networks. These requirements, along with general improvements in technology, silicon processes, and the resulting ability to cost-effectively transmit and receive data over ordinary telephone cable at 100 Mb/s led to the development and standardization of a 100 Mb/s version of Ethernet, Fast Ethernet. Fast Ethernet networks ran the Ethernet protocol, only ten times faster. Therefore, Fast Ethernet provided a simple method to migrate overloaded 10 Mb/s networks. It too was, (and still is) hugely successful.
The rise in the dominance of the Ethernet protocol was accompanied by a subtle shift in the manner in which networks were installed and configured. Originally, Ethernet was operated as a shared-media network in which all attached stations would share the available bandwidth. As the number of users and demand on the network increased, shared networks gave way to switched networks which allowed each user to be granted the entire network bandwidth. This shift in deployment away from shared-media Ethernet toward switched Ethernet, coupled with the continuous advances in technology and the rise of Internet and multimedia applications set the stage for the next generation in Ethernet networks, Gigabit Ethernet. Gigabit Ethernet provides all the familiarity of Ethernet, at 1,000,000 bits per second. Gigabit Ethernet builds on the same principles that made Fast Ethernet such a success; it borrowed a well known, tested, physical layer technology and did not modify the Ethernet frame formats. It also supports the original Ethernet's shared media option and will be the last Ethernet network that does so.
This book provides a reference guide for people who want to understand the operation and implementation of Ethernet networks running at 1 Gb/s (or 1,000 Mb/s). Chapter 1 reviews the origins and development of the Ethernet, from a shared media only network operating at 10 Mb/s to both shared repeater-based topologies and fully switched half/full-duplex networks able to run at 100 Mb/s. Chapters 2 and 3 discuss the evolution of 10 Mb/s Ethernet and the detailed specifications for the various components, as well as how these specifications map to real implementations of 10 Mb/s Ethernet networks.
Chapter 3 examines the 100 Mb/s Ethernet derivatives, which moved to widespread adoption shortly after the 1995 completion of the IEEE 100BASE-T standard. Chapter 3 also explains the continued progression of equipment used to segment ever larger networks, in order to group users related by geographical location, bandwidth need, data access requirements, job function, security authorization, and other reasons. Those already familiar with or not specifically interested in these extremely popular preceding versions of Ethernet may want to skip over these chapters.
Chapter 4 provides a review of the IEEE 802.3z standards document, and the Gigabit Ethernet technology and is generally meant to provides a tutorial companion to the IEEE 802.3z document. A complete examination of all of the IEEE Clauses, jargon and an some insight into the decisions behind the standards document is provided. Chapter 5 examines some of the applications that benefit from Gigabit Ethernet, how Gigabit Ethernet can be deployed to assist these applications, and how other technologies such as ATM and FDDI compare to the solution provided by Gigabit Ethernet. Various switching technologies are discussed, such as IP switching and tag switching. Finally, Chapter 6 looks at the emerging trends for high-speed networking. How will Gigabit Ethernet compare and compete with other technologies of similar data rate? Is there yet another generation of Ethernet in the cards?
Throughout this book a chronological perspective has been maintained, aligning with the predominant themes in the industry. Hence, as the reader progresses through the book, the technology migrates from the initial 10 Mb/s media options, to the 100 Mb/s Fast Ethernet derivative and switched Ethernet topologies, and finally to Gigabit Ethernet.
Computer books and standards documents are full of jargon, and this book is no exception. A complete glossary of all the terms and acronyms used in this book along with an explanation of each is provided. In addition, a description of the Ethernet standards themselves is included.
We have done our best to provide an accurate assessment of the IEEE standard but would like to remind the reader that the definitive reference and documentation for Gigabit Ethernet is the IEEE 802.3z standards document which can be ordered from the IEEE standards office.
This book was mainly the result of the persistence of our editor at Prentice Hall, Mary Franz, who kept us motivated to write and throughout the process. We gratefully acknowledge Joe Czerwinski for his work on the book's production. We thank Bob Grow, Rich Taborek, Geoff Thompson, Larry Miller, G.Y. Hanna, and Shashank Merchant for providing use valuable feedback on drafts of this book. We also thank Dale Edwards for giving us the initial push to write the book and Judy, Padma, and Sujata for enduring while we spent many long days and nights in front of the keyboard. Lastly, we thank the hard work of the hundreds of individuals who created the IEEE 802.3z standard in record time.
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Gigabit Ethernet
Available from Amazon
Price: $0.71
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