Ethernet: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition

Preface

This is a book about Ethernet, the world’s most popular network technology, which allows you to connect a variety of computers together with a low-cost and extremely flexible network system. Ethernet is found on a wide variety of devices, and this widespread support, coupled with its low cost and high flexibility, are major reasons for its popularity.

The Ethernet standard has grown to over 3,700 pages, and it covers a multitude of Ethernet technologies designed for multiple environments. Ethernet is used to build home networks, office and campus network systems, as well as wide area networks that span cities and countries. There are Ethernet systems designed for networking a neighborhood, as well as Ethernets designed for networking inside automobiles to link the multiple computers found there these days.

The goal of this book is to provide a comprehensive and practical source for information on the most widely used Ethernet technologies in a single volume. This book describes the varieties of Ethernet commonly used in homes, offices, and campus networks, as well as several systems typically used in data centers and server machine rooms. These include the most widely used set of Ethernet media systems: 10 Mb/s Ethernet, 100 Mb/s Fast Ethernet, and 1000 Mb/s Gigabit Ethernet, as well as 10 Gigabit and 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet. We also describe full-duplex Ethernet, Ethernet Auto-Negotiation, Power over Ethernet, Energy Efficient Ethernet, structured cabling systems, network ...