What is Ethernet

Ethernet is a computer local area network technology and the most common computer network in the real world. The standard topology of Ethernet is a bus topology, but the current Fast Ethernet uses switches to connect and organize the network in order to reduce conflicts and maximize network speed and efficiency.

The operating environment of this article: Windows 7 system, Dell G3 computer.

Ethernet is a computer local area network technology. The IEEE 802.3 standard of the IEEE organization formulates the technical standard of Ethernet, which specifies the content including physical layer wiring, electronic signals and media access layer protocols. Ethernet is currently the most commonly used LAN technology, replacing other LAN technologies such as Token Ring, FDDI and ARCNET.

Ethernet is the most common computer network in the real world. There are two types of Ethernet: the first is classic Ethernet, and the second is switched Ethernet, which uses a device called a switch to connect different computers. Classic Ethernet is the original form of Ethernet, operating at speeds ranging from 3 to 10 Mbps; Switched Ethernet is a widely used Ethernet that can run at high rates of 100, 1000 and 10000 Mbps, respectively, with Fast Ethernet Network, Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.

The standard topology of Ethernet is a bus topology, but the current Fast Ethernet (100BASE-T, 1000BASE-T standards) uses Switches for network connectivity and organization. As a result, the topology of Ethernet becomes a star; but logically, Ethernet still uses bus topology and CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection). bus technology.

Ethernet realizes the idea of ​​multiple nodes of a radio system on the network sending information. Each node must obtain a cable or channel to transmit information, sometimes also called Ether. (The name comes from the electromagnetic radiation medium hypothesized by 19th-century physicists - optical ether. Later research proved that optical ether does not exist.) Each node has a globally unique 48-bit address, which is the MAC address assigned to the network card by the manufacturer. , to ensure that all nodes on the Ethernet can identify each other. Because Ethernet is so common, many manufacturers integrate Ethernet cards directly into computer motherboards.

• Origin of Ethernet

The story of Ethernet begins during the ALOHA period, exactly when a student named Bob Metcalfe obtained hemp. After earning a bachelor's degree from the Provincial Polytechnic, he moved across the river to Harvard University to pursue his Ph.D. During his studies, he came across the work of Abramson, which interested him. After graduating from Harvard, he decided to stay in Hawaii for a vacation before taking a formal job at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in order to help Abramson work. When he arrived at the Palo Alto Research Center, he saw that researchers there had designed and built machines that would later be called personal computers, but these machines were all in isolation; he used the knowledge gained from helping Abramson work with his colleague David Boggs designed and implemented the first local area network. The LAN uses a long thick coaxial cable and runs at 3Mbps.

They named this system Ethernet, and it was once thought that electromagnetic radiation could be transmitted through it.

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