[Assignment]

Subject :Network Design And

Management
Submitted To: M.Zohaib Tariq
Submitted By: Sir afzaal wrraich
Roll Number:12062456-021
Samester:2nd

What is Ethernet?
Ethernet is a physical and data link layer technology for local area
networks. Ethernet was invented by engineer Robert Metcalfe. Ethernet initially competed with
two largely proprietary systems, Token Ring and Token Bus. Because Ethernet was able to adapt
to market realities and
shift to inexpensive and
ubiquitous twisted pair
wiring, these
proprietary protocols
soon found them
competing in a market

What is Ethernet

inundated by Ethernet products and by the end of the 1980s, Ethernet was clearly the dominant
network technology.
When first widely deployed in the 1980s, Ethernet supported a maximum theoretical data rate of
10 megabits per second Mbps.Later; so-called "Fast Ethernet" standards increased this maximum
data rate to 100 Mbps. Today, Gigabit Ethernet technology further extends peak performance up
to 1000 Mbps. Since its commercial release, Ethernet has retained a good degree of
compatibility. Features such as the 48-bit MAC address and Ethernet frame format have
influenced other networking protocols. The original 10BASE5 Ethernet used coaxial cable as a
shared medium. Later the coaxial cables were replaced by twisted pair and fiber optic links in
conjunction with hubs or switches
Higher level network protocols like Internet Protocol (IP) use Ethernet as their transmission
medium. Data travels over Ethernet inside protocol units called frames. The run length of
individual Ethernet cables is limited to roughly 100 meters, but Ethernet networks can be easily
extended to link entire schools or office buildings using network bridge devices.
Today newer home broadband routers now support Gigabit Ethernet along with other mainstream
computer network equipment. Gigabit Ethernet also provides backward compatibility to older
100 Mbps and 10 Mbps legacy Ethernet devices: Connections to these devices function normally
but perform at the lower speed. Also Known As 1000 Mbps Ethernet. The formal designation for
standardization of the Ethernet protocol is sometimes referred to as IEEE 802.3. The IEEE
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) proposed a working group in February 1980
accounting for the designation Feb 1980 to standardize network protocols. The third
subcommittee worked on a flavor essentially identical to Ethernet, though there are insignificant
variances. Consequently, generic use of the term might refer to IEEE 802.3 or DIX. Ethernet
uses a protocol called CSMACD. This stands for "Carrier Sense, Multiple Access, and Collision
Detect". The "Multiple Access" part means that every station is connected to a single copper wire
that connected a single path. The "Carrier Sense" part says that before transmitting data, a station
checks the wire to see if any other station is already sending something. If the LAN appears to be
idle, then the station can begin to send data.