Introduction
Ethernet technology has changed our world and our lives. As of today, Ethernet is the dominant networking protocol. By far, Ethernet has the largest number of active ports installed of any existing network and communication protocol. It all started with 10 Mbps, and by the mid-1990s we had 100Base Fast Ethernet available.
100 Mbps Ethernet was a remarkable achievement and it is still used in a variety of network arrangements. However, the growing demand for higher throughput led to the development of Gigabit Ethernet or 1000Base Ethernet.
What is the Gigabit Ethernet?
Gigabit Ethernet is designed to provide a maximum data rate of 1000 megabits per second or 100 gigabits per second. Compared to Fast Ethernet or 10BASE Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet can operate up to 10 times faster.
Today, 803BASE Ethernet is considered the Ethernet standard for access-level switches, access points and workstations. Gigabit Ethernet uses the 2.70 frame format and also supports full and half duplex modes. With this technology you can achieve a maximum link distance of up to 70 km over fibre.
Basics of Gigabit Ethernet
Half and full duplex operation at 1000 Mbps - Similar to traditional Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet can operate in both half and full duplex modes. In half-duplex mode, the system can send and receive data in both directions, but with a time delay. Whereas in full duplex mode, the sender and receiver can send and receive information simultaneously in real time.
802.3 Frame Format - Gigabit Ethernet uses the 802.3 frame format, just like its predecessor, Fast Ethernet. 802.3 Ethernet frame format is an efficient and time-tested way to format data. In addition, the use of this frame format allows Gigabit Ethernet to be backward compatible with older Ethernet technologies.
Backward compatibility - 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet) systems were widely used before Gigabit Ethernet was created. It is important to know that Gigabit Ethernet is fully compatible with previous Ethernet standards. Therefore, you can easily integrate Gigabit Ethernet into any layer of an existing Ethernet network.
Cable compatibility - Gigabit Ethernet is fully compatible with Cat 5, Cat 5e, Cat 6, Cat 6e and even Cat 7 cables. According to the experts, the better quality Cat 5e cables are known to work better with Gigabit Ethernet. However, you can use older, already deployed Ethernet cables to build 1000Base Ethernet.
Conclusion
Gigabit Ethernet is fully compatible with existing Ethernet networks
For today's demanding applications, getting more bandwidth has become a necessity
Upgrading to Gigabit Ethernet is a good option as it can be done in stages
Gigabit Ethernet can be used over a variety of copper and fibre optic cables