Ethernet#Gigabit Ethernet

File:Accton-etherpocket-sp-parallel-port-ethernet-adapter.jpg Etherpocket-SP parallel port Ethernet adapter ({{Circa|1990}}). Supports both coaxial (10BASE2) and twisted pair (10BASE-T) cables. Power is drawn from a PS/2 port passthrough cable.]]

Ethernet was developed at Xerox PARC between 1973 and 1974{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5MezxMcRmk | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/g5MezxMcRmk| archive-date=December 11, 2021 | url-status=live|title=The History of Ethernet |publisher=NetEvents.tv |date=2006 |access-date=September 10, 2011}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web |url=http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_687626 |title=Ethernet Prototype Circuit Board |year=1973 |publisher=Smithsonian National Museum of American History |access-date=September 2, 2007 |archive-date=October 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028132431/http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_687626 |url-status=live }} as a means to allow Alto computers to communicate with each other.{{cite magazine |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/ethernet-ieee-milestone |author=Joanna Goodrich |magazine=IEEE Spectrum |title=Ethernet is Still Going Strong After 50 Years |date=2023-11-16}} It was inspired by ALOHAnet, which Robert Metcalfe had studied as part of his PhD dissertation{{cite book |title=The Second Information Revolution |url=https://archive.org/details/secondinformatio00broc |url-access=limited |author=Gerald W. Brock |publisher=Harvard University Press |date=September 25, 2003 |isbn=0-674-01178-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/secondinformatio00broc/page/n165 151]}}{{cite web |last1=Metz |first1=Cade |title=Turing Award Won by Co-Inventor of Ethernet Technology |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/22/technology/turing-award-bob-metcalfe-ethernet.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=March 23, 2023 |date=March 22, 2023 |archive-date=March 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323005811/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/22/technology/turing-award-bob-metcalfe-ethernet.html |url-status=live }} and was originally called the Alto Aloha Network. Metcalfe's idea was essentially to limit the Aloha-like signals inside a cable, instead of broadcasting into the air. The idea was first documented in a memo that Metcalfe wrote on May 22, 1973, where he named it after the luminiferous aether once postulated to exist as an "omnipresent, completely passive medium for the propagation of electromagnetic waves."{{cite web |website=The Register |title=Ethernet – a networking protocol name for the ages: Michelson, Morley, and Metcalfe |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/13/metcalfe_remembers/page2.html |access-date=March 4, 2013 |date=March 13, 2009 |author=Cade Metz |page=2 |archive-date=November 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108043954/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/13/metcalfe_remembers/page2.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Inventors of the Modern Computer |url=http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa111598.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711085707/http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa111598.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 11, 2012 |author=Mary Bellis |publisher=About.com |access-date=September 10, 2011 }}

In 1975, Xerox filed a patent application listing Metcalfe, David Boggs, Chuck Thacker, and Butler Lampson as inventors.{{US patent|4063220}} "Multipoint data communication system (with collision detection)" In 1976, after the system was deployed at PARC, Metcalfe and Boggs published a seminal paper.{{cite journal| author1 = Robert Metcalfe| author2 = David Boggs| date = July 1976| title = Ethernet: Distributed Packet Switching for Local Computer Networks| journal = Communications of the ACM| volume = 19| issue = 7| pages = 395–405| url = http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/pcosta/cn_slides/metcalfe76ethernet.pdf| doi = 10.1145/360248.360253| s2cid = 429216| author-link1 = Robert Metcalfe| author-link2 = David Boggs| access-date = August 25, 2015| archive-date = March 15, 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160315040642/http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/pcosta/cn_slides/metcalfe76ethernet.pdf| url-status = live}}{{Efn|The experimental Ethernet described in the 1976 paper ran at 2.94 Mbit/s and has eight-bit destination and source address fields, so the original Ethernet addresses are not the MAC addresses they are today.{{cite journal |title= Evolution of the Ethernet Local Computer Network |author1= John F. Shoch |author2= Yogen K. Dalal |author3= David D. Redell |author4= Ronald C. Crane |author4-link= Ron Crane (engineer) |journal= IEEE Computer |date= August 1982 |volume= 15 |issue= 8 |pages= 14–26 |url= http://ethernethistory.typepad.com/papers/EthernetEvolution.pdf |doi= 10.1109/MC.1982.1654107 |s2cid= 14546631 |author-link1= John F. Shoch |access-date= April 7, 2011 |archive-date= August 15, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110815204600/http://ethernethistory.typepad.com/papers/EthernetEvolution.pdf |url-status= live }} By software convention, the 16 bits after the destination and source address fields specify a "packet type", but, as the paper says, "different protocols use disjoint sets of packet types". Thus the original packet types could vary within each different protocol. This is in contrast to the EtherType in the IEEE Ethernet standard, which specifies the protocol being used.}} Ron Crane, Yogen Dalal,{{cite book |last1=Pelkey |first1=James L. |title=Entrepreneurial Capitalism and Innovation: A History of Computer Communications, 1968–1988 |date=2007 |chapter=Yogen Dalal |url=http://www.historyofcomputercommunications.info/Individuals/abstracts/yogen-dalal.html |access-date=September 5, 2019 |archive-date=September 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905162105/http://www.historyofcomputercommunications.info/Individuals/abstracts/yogen-dalal.html |url-status=live }} Robert Garner, Hal Murray, Roy Ogus, Dave Redell and John Shoch facilitated the upgrade from the original 2.94 Mbit/s protocol to the 10 Mbit/s protocol, which was released to the market in 1980.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wband.com/2013/05/introduction-to-ethernet-technologies/|title=Introduction to Ethernet Technologies|publisher=WideBand Products|website=www.wband.com|language=en-US|access-date=April 9, 2018|archive-date=April 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410072256/https://www.wband.com/2013/05/introduction-to-ethernet-technologies/|url-status=live}}

Metcalfe left Xerox in June 1979 to form 3Com. He convinced Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Intel, and Xerox to work together to promote Ethernet as a standard. As part of that process Xerox agreed to relinquish their 'Ethernet' trademark.{{cite book|chapter-url=https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/ethernet-the-definitive/1565926609/ch01.html|url=https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/ethernet-the-definitive/1565926609/|chapter=Chapter 1. The Evolution of Ethernet|title=Ethernet: The Definitive Guide|author=Charles E. Spurgeon|date=2000|isbn=1565926609|access-date=December 4, 2018|archive-date=December 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205003408/https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/ethernet-the-definitive/1565926609/|url-status=live}} The first standard was published on September 30, 1980, as "The Ethernet, A Local Area Network. Data Link Layer and Physical Layer Specifications". This so-called DIX standard (Digital Intel Xerox){{cite magazine |magazine=Hardcopy |date=March 1981 |page=12 |title=Ethernet: Bridging the communications gap}} specified 10 Mbit/s Ethernet, with 48-bit destination and source addresses and a global 16-bit Ethertype-type field.{{Cite journal |url=http://ethernethistory.typepad.com/papers/EthernetSpec.pdf |date=September 30, 1980 |title=The Ethernet, A Local Area Network. Data Link Layer and Physical Layer Specifications, Version 1.0 |author1=Digital Equipment Corporation |author2=Intel Corporation |author3=Xerox Corporation |publisher=Xerox Corporation |access-date=December 10, 2011 |journal= |archive-date=August 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825014958/https://ethernethistory.typepad.com/papers/EthernetSpec.pdf |url-status=live }} Version 2 was published in November 1982{{Cite journal |url=http://decnet.ipv7.net/docs/dundas/aa-k759b-tk.pdf |title=The Ethernet, A Local Area Network. Data Link Layer and Physical Layer Specifications, Version 2.0 |date=November 1982 |author1=Digital Equipment Corporation |author2=Intel Corporation |author3=Xerox Corporation |publisher=Xerox Corporation |access-date=December 10, 2011 |journal= |archive-date=December 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111215224455/http://decnet.ipv7.net/docs/dundas/aa-k759b-tk.pdf |url-status=live }} and defines what has become known as Ethernet II. Formal standardization efforts proceeded at the same time and resulted in the publication of IEEE 802.3 on June 23, 1983.{{cite press release|url=http://standards.ieee.org/news/2013/802.3_30anniv.html|title=IEEE 802.3 'Standard for Ethernet' Marks 30 Years of Innovation and Global Market Growth|publisher=IEEE|date=June 24, 2013|access-date=January 11, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112041706/http://standards.ieee.org/news/2013/802.3_30anniv.html|archive-date=January 12, 2014}}

Ethernet initially competed with Token Ring and other proprietary protocols. Ethernet was able to adapt to market needs, and with 10BASE2 shift to inexpensive thin coaxial cable, and from 1990 to the now-ubiquitous twisted pair with 10BASE-T. By the end of the 1980s, Ethernet was clearly the dominant network technology. In the process, 3Com became a major company. 3Com shipped its first 10 Mbit/s Ethernet 3C100 NIC in March 1981, and that year started selling adapters for PDP-11s and VAXes, as well as Multibus-based Intel and Sun Microsystems computers.{{cite book |title=Switched, Fast, and Gigabit Ethernet |year=1999 |author1=Robert Breyer |author2=Sean Riley |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=1-57870-073-6}}{{rp|9}} This was followed quickly by DEC's Unibus to Ethernet adapter, which DEC sold and used internally to build its own corporate network, which reached over 10,000 nodes by 1986, making it one of the largest computer networks in the world at that time.{{cite book |title=Digital at Work |author=Jamie Parker Pearson |year=1992 |publisher=Digital Press |isbn=1-55558-092-0 |page=163}} An Ethernet adapter card for the IBM PC was released in 1982, and, by 1985, 3Com had sold 100,000. In the 1980s, IBM's own PC Network product competed with Ethernet for the PC, and through the 1980s, LAN hardware, in general, was not common on PCs. However, in the mid to late 1980s, PC networking did become popular in offices and schools for printer and fileserver sharing, and among the many diverse competing LAN technologies of that decade, Ethernet was one of the most popular. Parallel port based Ethernet adapters were produced for a time, with drivers for DOS and Windows. By the early 1990s, Ethernet became so prevalent that Ethernet ports began to appear on some PCs and most workstations. This process was greatly sped up with the introduction of 10BASE-T and its relatively small modular connector, at which point Ethernet ports appeared even on low-end motherboards.{{citation needed|reason=which statement in the paragraph needs a citation? – all of it that is uncited if it's going to stay in the GAN queue|date=April 2020}}

Since then, Ethernet technology has evolved to meet new bandwidth and market requirements.{{Cite journal |url=http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4211609/Shifts-growth-ahead-for-10G-Ethernet |title=Shifts, growth ahead for 10G Ethernet |publisher=E Times |date=December 20, 2010 |author=Rick Merritt |access-date=September 10, 2011 |journal= |archive-date=January 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118135235/http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4211609/Shifts-growth-ahead-for-10G-Ethernet |url-status=live }} In addition to computers, Ethernet is now used to interconnect appliances and other personal devices. As Industrial Ethernet it is used in industrial applications and is quickly replacing legacy data transmission systems in the world's telecommunications networks.{{Cite news |url=http://www.jaymiescotto.com/jsablog/2011/07/29/my-oh-my-ethernet-growth-continues-to-soar-surpasses-legacy/ |title=My oh My – Ethernet Growth Continues to Soar; Surpasses Legacy |date=July 29, 2011 |publisher=Telecom News Now |access-date=September 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111118225710/http://www.jaymiescotto.com/jsablog/2011/07/29/my-oh-my-ethernet-growth-continues-to-soar-surpasses-legacy/ |archive-date=November 18, 2011 |url-status=dead }} By 2010, the market for Ethernet equipment amounted to over $16 billion per year.{{Cite journal |publisher=International Data Group |title=Cisco, Juniper, HP drive Ethernet switch market in Q4 |url=https://www.networkworld.com/article/2245430/cisco--juniper--hp-drive-ethernet-switch-market-in-q4.html |access-date=August 11, 2019 |date=February 22, 2010 |author=Jim Duffy |journal=Network World |archive-date=August 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811175521/https://www.networkworld.com/article/2245430/cisco--juniper--hp-drive-ethernet-switch-market-in-q4.html |url-status=live }}

File:An Intel 82574L Gigabit Ethernet NIC, PCI Express x1 card.jpg

In February 1980, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) started project 802 to standardize local area networks (LAN).{{cite web |url=http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/policy/2001/01aug27IEEE802.pdf |title=Letter to FCC |author=Vic Hayes |date=August 27, 2001 |quote=IEEE 802 has the basic charter to develop and maintain networking standards... IEEE 802 was formed in February 1980... |access-date=October 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727094219/http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/policy/2001/01aug27IEEE802.pdf |archive-date=July 27, 2011 |url-status=dead }} The DIX group with Gary Robinson (DEC), Phil Arst (Intel), and Bob Printis (Xerox) submitted the so-called Blue Book CSMA/CD specification as a candidate for the LAN specification. In addition to CSMA/CD, Token Ring (supported by IBM) and Token Bus (selected and henceforward supported by General Motors) were also considered as candidates for a LAN standard. Competing proposals and broad interest in the initiative led to strong disagreement over which technology to standardize. In December 1980, the group was split into three subgroups, and standardization proceeded separately for each proposal.{{cite journal |last1=von Burg |first1=Urs |last2=Kenney |first2=Martin |title=Sponsors, Communities, and Standards: Ethernet vs. Token Ring in the Local Area Networking Business |journal=Industry & Innovation |date=December 2003 |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=351–375 |doi=10.1080/1366271032000163621 |s2cid=153804163 |url=http://hcd.ucdavis.edu/faculty/webpages/kenney/articles_files/Sponsors,%20Communities,%20and%20Standards:%20Ethernet%20vs.%20Token%20Ring%20in%20the%20Local%20Area%20Networking%20Business.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206202221/http://hcd.ucdavis.edu/faculty/webpages/kenney/articles_files/Sponsors,%20Communities,%20and%20Standards:%20Ethernet%20vs.%20Token%20Ring%20in%20the%20Local%20Area%20Networking%20Business.pdf |archive-date=December 6, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=February 17, 2014 }}

Delays in the standards process put at risk the market introduction of the Xerox Star workstation and 3Com's Ethernet LAN products. With such business implications in mind, David Liddle (General Manager, Xerox Office Systems) and Metcalfe (3Com) strongly supported a proposal of Fritz Röscheisen (Siemens Private Networks) for an alliance in the emerging office communication market, including Siemens' support for the international standardization of Ethernet (April 10, 1981). Ingrid Fromm, Siemens' representative to IEEE 802, quickly achieved broader support for Ethernet beyond IEEE by the establishment of a competing Task Group "Local Networks" within the European standards body ECMA TC24. In March 1982, ECMA TC24 with its corporate members reached an agreement on a standard for CSMA/CD based on the IEEE 802 draft.{{rp|8}} Because the DIX proposal was most technically complete and because of the speedy action taken by ECMA which decisively contributed to the conciliation of opinions within IEEE, the IEEE 802.3 CSMA/CD standard was approved in December 1982. IEEE published the 802.3 standard as a draft in 1983 and as a standard in 1985.IEEE 802.3-2008, p.iv

Approval of Ethernet on the international level was achieved by a similar, cross-partisan action with Fromm as the liaison officer working to integrate with International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Technical Committee 83 and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee 97 Sub Committee 6. The ISO 8802-3 standard was published in 1989.{{cite web |url=http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_ics/catalogue_detail_ics.htm?csnumber=16235 |title=ISO 8802-3:1989 |publisher=ISO |access-date=July 8, 2015 |archive-date=July 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709153203/http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_ics/catalogue_detail_ics.htm?csnumber=16235 |url-status=live }}

{{IPstack}}

Ethernet has evolved to include higher bandwidth, improved medium access control methods, and different physical media. The multidrop coaxial cable was replaced with physical point-to-point links connected by Ethernet repeaters or switches.{{cite web |url=http://www.networkworld.com/article/2869883/lan-wan/evolution-of-ethernet.html |publisher=Network World |author=Jim Duffy |date=April 20, 2009 |access-date=January 1, 2016 |title=Evolution of Ethernet |archive-date=June 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611140149/http://www.networkworld.com/article/2869883/lan-wan/evolution-of-ethernet.html |url-status=dead }}

Ethernet stations communicate by sending each other data packets: blocks of data individually sent and delivered. As with other IEEE 802 LANs, adapters come programmed with globally unique 48-bit MAC address so that each Ethernet station has a unique address.{{Efn|In some cases, the factory-assigned address can be overridden, either to avoid an address change when an adapter is replaced or to use locally administered addresses.}} The MAC addresses are used to specify both the destination and the source of each data packet. Ethernet establishes link-level connections, which can be defined using both the destination and source addresses. On reception of a transmission, the receiver uses the destination address to determine whether the transmission is relevant to the station or should be ignored. A network interface normally does not accept packets addressed to other Ethernet stations.{{Efn|Unless it is put into promiscuous mode.|name=promiscuous}}{{Efn|Of course bridges and switches will accept other addresses for forwarding the packet.}}

An EtherType field in each frame is used by the operating system on the receiving station to select the appropriate protocol module (e.g., an Internet Protocol version such as IPv4). Ethernet frames are said to be self-identifying, because of the EtherType field. Self-identifying frames make it possible to intermix multiple protocols on the same physical network and allow a single computer to use multiple protocols together.{{cite book |author=Douglas E. Comer |author-link=Douglas E. Comer |year=2000 |title=Internetworking with TCP/IP – Principles, Protocols and Architecture |edition=4th |publisher=Prentice Hall |isbn=0-13-018380-6}} 2.4.9 – Ethernet Hardware Addresses, p. 29, explains the filtering. Despite the evolution of Ethernet technology, all generations of Ethernet (excluding early experimental versions) use the same frame formats.{{cite web|author=Iljitsch van Beijnum|title=Speed matters: how Ethernet went from 3Mbps to 100Gbps... and beyond|url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2011/07/ethernet-how-does-it-work/3/|website=Ars Technica|date=July 15, 2011|access-date=July 15, 2011|quote=All aspects of Ethernet were changed: its MAC procedure, the bit encoding, the wiring... only the packet format has remained the same.|archive-date=July 9, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709015112/http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2011/07/ethernet-how-does-it-work/3/|url-status=live}} Mixed-speed networks can be built using Ethernet switches and repeaters supporting the desired Ethernet variants.{{citation |url=http://www.lantronix.com/resources/networking-tutorials/fast-ethernet-tutorial/ |publisher=Lantronix |access-date=January 1, 2016 |title=Fast Ethernet Turtorial |date=December 9, 2014 |archive-date=November 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151128172531/http://www.lantronix.com/resources/networking-tutorials/fast-ethernet-tutorial/ |url-status=live }}

Due to the ubiquity of Ethernet, and the ever-decreasing cost of the hardware needed to support it, by 2004 most manufacturers built Ethernet interfaces directly into PC motherboards, eliminating the need for a separate network card.{{cite web |url=http://pcquest.ciol.com/content/search/showarticle.asp?artid=63428 |title=Motherboard Chipsets Roundup |publisher=PCQuest |date=November 1, 2004 |author=Geetaj Channana |quote=While comparing motherboards in the last issue we found that all motherboards support Ethernet connection on board. |access-date=October 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708154855/http://pcquest.ciol.com/content/search/showarticle.asp?artid=63428 |archive-date=July 8, 2011 |url-status=dead }}

File:10Base5transcievers.jpg adapter, a similar model transceiver with a 10BASE5 adapter, an AUI cable, a different style of transceiver with 10BASE2 BNC T-connector, two 10BASE5 end fittings (N connectors), an orange vampire tap installation tool (which includes a specialized drill bit at one end and a socket wrench at the other), and an early model 10BASE5 transceiver (h4000) manufactured by DEC. The short length of yellow 10BASE5 cable has one end fitted with an N connector and the other end prepared to have an N connector shell installed; the half-black, half-grey rectangular object through which the cable passes is an installed vampire tap.]]

Ethernet was originally based on the idea of computers communicating over a shared coaxial cable acting as a broadcast transmission medium. The method used was similar to those used in radio systems,{{Efn|There are fundamental differences between wireless and wired shared-medium communication, such as the fact that it is much easier to detect collisions in a wired system than a wireless system.}} with the common cable providing the communication channel likened to the Luminiferous aether in 19th-century physics, and it was from this reference that the name Ethernet was derived.{{cite book |title=Ethernet: The Definitive Guide |url=https://archive.org/details/ethernetdefiniti0000spur |url-access=registration |author=Charles E. Spurgeon |publisher=O'Reilly |isbn=978-1-56592-660-8 |year=2000}}

Original Ethernet's shared coaxial cable (the shared medium) traversed a building or campus to every attached machine. A scheme known as carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) governed the way the computers shared the channel. This scheme was simpler than competing Token Ring or Token Bus technologies.{{Efn|In a CSMA/CD system packets must be large enough to guarantee that the leading edge of the propagating wave of a message gets to all parts of the medium and back again before the transmitter stops transmitting, guaranteeing that collisions (two or more packets initiated within a window of time that forced them to overlap) are discovered. As a result, the minimum packet size and the physical medium's total length are closely linked.}} Computers are connected to an Attachment Unit Interface (AUI) transceiver, which is in turn connected to the cable (with thin Ethernet the transceiver is usually integrated into the network adapter). While a simple passive wire is highly reliable for small networks, it is not reliable for large extended networks, where damage to the wire in a single place, or a single bad connector, can make the whole Ethernet segment unusable.{{Efn|Multipoint systems are also prone to strange failure modes when an electrical discontinuity reflects the signal in such a manner that some nodes would work properly, while others work slowly because of excessive retries or not at all. See standing wave for an explanation. These could be much more difficult to diagnose than a complete failure of the segment.}}

Through the first half of the 1980s, Ethernet's 10BASE5 implementation used a coaxial cable {{convert|0.375|in}} in diameter, later called thick Ethernet or thicknet. Its successor, 10BASE2, called thin Ethernet or thinnet, used the RG-58 coaxial cable. The emphasis was on making installation of the cable easier and less costly.{{cite book |author1=Heinz-Gerd Hegering |author2=Alfred Lapple |title=Ethernet: Building a Communications Infrastructure |publisher=Addison-Wesley |date=1993 |isbn=0-201-62405-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/ethernetbuilding0000hege }}{{rp|57}}

Since all communication happens on the same wire, any information sent by one computer is received by all, even if that information is intended for just one destination.{{Efn|This one speaks, all listen property is a security weakness of shared-medium Ethernet, since a node on an Ethernet network can eavesdrop on all traffic on the wire if it so chooses.}} The network interface card interrupts the CPU only when applicable packets are received: the card ignores information not addressed to it.{{Efn|name=promiscuous}} Use of a single cable also means that the data bandwidth is shared, such that, for example, available data bandwidth to each device is halved when two stations are simultaneously active.{{citation |url=http://www.lantronix.com/resources/networking-tutorials/ethernet-tutorial-networking-basics/ |title=Ethernet Tutorial – Part I: Networking Basics |date=December 9, 2014 |publisher=Lantronix |access-date=January 1, 2016 |archive-date=February 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213014814/http://www.lantronix.com/resources/networking-tutorials/ethernet-tutorial-networking-basics/ |url-status=live }}

A collision happens when two stations attempt to transmit at the same time. They corrupt transmitted data and require stations to re-transmit. The lost data and re-transmission reduces throughput. In the worst case, where multiple active hosts connected with maximum allowed cable length attempt to transmit many short frames, excessive collisions can reduce throughput dramatically. However, a Xerox report in 1980 studied performance of an existing Ethernet installation under both normal and artificially generated heavy load. The report claimed that 98% throughput on the LAN was observed.{{cite journal| author1=Shoch, John F. |author2=Hupp, Jon A. | title = Measured performance of an Ethernet local network| journal=Communications of the ACM| volume = 23| issue = 12| pages = 711–721| publisher=ACM Press| date=December 1980| issn = 0001-0782

| doi = 10.1145/359038.359044|s2cid=1002624 | doi-access = free}} This is in contrast with token passing LANs (Token Ring, Token Bus), all of which suffer throughput degradation as each new node comes into the LAN, due to token waits. This report was controversial, as modeling showed that collision-based networks theoretically became unstable under loads as low as 37% of nominal capacity. Many early researchers failed to understand these results. Performance on real networks is significantly better.{{cite journal |author1=Boggs, D.R. |author2=Mogul, J.C. |author3=Kent, C.A. |name-list-style=amp |title=Measured capacity of an Ethernet: myths and reality |date=September 1988 |publisher=DEC WRL |url=http://www.hpl.hp.com/techreports/Compaq-DEC/WRL-88-4.pdf |journal= |access-date=December 20, 2012 |archive-date=March 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302125906/http://www.hpl.hp.com/techreports/Compaq-DEC/WRL-88-4.pdf |url-status=live }}

In a modern Ethernet, the stations do not all share one channel through a shared cable or a simple repeater hub; instead, each station communicates with a switch, which in turn forwards that traffic to the destination station. In this topology, collisions are only possible if station and switch attempt to communicate with each other at the same time, and collisions are limited to this link. Furthermore, the 10BASE-T standard introduced a full duplex mode of operation which became common with Fast Ethernet and the de facto standard with Gigabit Ethernet. In full duplex, switch and station can send and receive simultaneously, and therefore modern Ethernets are completely collision-free.

File:Bustopologie.png|The original Ethernet implementation: shared medium, collision-prone. All computers trying to communicate share the same cable, and so compete with each other.

File:HUB SWITCH 6.jpg|Modern Ethernet implementation: switched connection, collision-free. Each computer communicates only with its own switch, without competition for the cable with others.

Image:Network card.jpg network interface card supporting both coaxial-cable-based 10BASE2 (BNC connector, left) and twisted-pair-based 10BASE-T (8P8C connector, right)]]

{{Main|Ethernet hub}}

For signal degradation and timing reasons, coaxial Ethernet segments have a restricted size.{{Cite web|url=https://kb.wisc.edu/ns/page.php?id=7829|title=Ethernet Media Standards and Distances|website=kb.wisc.edu|access-date=October 10, 2017|archive-date=June 19, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619010200/https://kb.wisc.edu/ns/page.php?id=7829|url-status=live}} Somewhat larger networks can be built by using an Ethernet repeater. Early repeaters had only two ports, allowing, at most, a doubling of network size. Once repeaters with more than two ports became available, it was possible to wire the network in a star topology. Early experiments with star topologies (called Fibernet) using optical fiber were published by 1978.{{cite journal |title= Fibemet: Multimode Optical Fibers for Local Computer Networks |author1= Eric G. Rawson |author2= Robert M. Metcalfe |journal= IEEE Transactions on Communications |date= July 1978 |volume= 26 |issue= 7 |pages= 983–990 |url= http://ethernethistory.typepad.com/papers/Fibernet.pdf |doi= 10.1109/TCOM.1978.1094189 |access-date= June 11, 2011 |archive-date= August 15, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110815204821/http://ethernethistory.typepad.com/papers/Fibernet.pdf |url-status= live }}

Shared cable Ethernet is always hard to install in offices because its bus topology is in conflict with the star topology cable plans designed into buildings for telephony. Modifying Ethernet to conform to twisted-pair telephone wiring already installed in commercial buildings provided another opportunity to lower costs, expand the installed base, and leverage building design, and, thus, twisted-pair Ethernet was the next logical development in the mid-1980s.

Ethernet on unshielded twisted-pair cables (UTP) began with StarLAN at 1 Mbit/s in the mid-1980s. In 1987 SynOptics introduced the first twisted-pair Ethernet at 10 Mbit/s in a star-wired cabling topology with a central hub, later called LattisNet.{{rp|29}}{{cite book| title = The Triumph of Ethernet: technological communities and the battle for the LAN standard| author = Urs von Burg| publisher = Stanford University Press| year = 2001| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ooBqdIXIqbwC&pg=PA175| isbn = 0-8047-4094-1| page = 175| access-date = September 23, 2016| archive-date = January 9, 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170109135141/https://books.google.com/books?id=ooBqdIXIqbwC&pg=PA175| url-status = live}} These evolved into 10BASE-T, which was designed for point-to-point links only, and all termination was built into the device. This changed repeaters from a specialist device used at the center of large networks to a device that every twisted pair-based network with more than two machines had to use. The tree structure that resulted from this made Ethernet networks easier to maintain by preventing most faults with one peer or its associated cable from affecting other devices on the network.{{citation needed|date=April 2020|reason=OK, repeaters are required to deactivate ports that send excessive collisions, such as due to internal defects, or external wiring defects. That is an important part of this statement.}}

Despite the physical star topology and the presence of separate transmit and receive channels in the twisted pair and fiber media, repeater-based Ethernet networks still use half-duplex and CSMA/CD, with only minimal activity by the repeater, primarily generation of the jam signal in dealing with packet collisions. Every packet is sent to every other port on the repeater, so bandwidth and security problems are not addressed. The total throughput of the repeater is limited to that of a single link, and all links must operate at the same speed.{{rp|278}}

=== Bridging and switching ===

File:Network switches.jpgs with patch fields of two Ethernet switches]]

{{Main|Network bridge|Network switch}}

While repeaters can isolate some aspects of Ethernet segments, such as cable breakages, they still forward all traffic to all Ethernet devices. The entire network is one collision domain, and all hosts have to be able to detect collisions anywhere on the network. This limits the number of repeaters between the farthest nodes and creates practical limits on how many machines can communicate on an Ethernet network. Segments joined by repeaters have to all operate at the same speed, making phased-in upgrades impossible.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

To alleviate these problems, bridging was created to communicate at the data link layer while isolating the physical layer. With bridging, only well-formed Ethernet packets are forwarded from one Ethernet segment to another; collisions and packet errors are isolated. At initial startup, Ethernet bridges work somewhat like Ethernet repeaters, passing all traffic between segments. By observing the source addresses of incoming frames, the bridge then builds an address table associating addresses to segments. Once an address is learned, the bridge forwards network traffic destined for that address only to the associated segment, improving overall performance. Broadcast traffic is still forwarded to all network segments. Bridges also overcome the limits on total segments between two hosts and allow the mixing of speeds, both of which are critical to the incremental deployment of faster Ethernet variants.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

In 1989, Motorola Codex introduced their 6310 EtherSpan, and Kalpana introduced their EtherSwitch; these were examples of the first commercial Ethernet switches.{{Efn|The term switch was invented by device manufacturers and does not appear in the IEEE 802.3 standard.}} Early switches such as this used cut-through switching where only the header of the incoming packet is examined before it is either dropped or forwarded to another segment.{{cite web |title=The 10 Most Important Products of the Decade |author=Robert J. Kohlhepp |date=October 2, 2000 |access-date=February 25, 2008 |publisher=Network Computing |url=http://www.networkcomputing.com/1119/1119f1products_5.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105152318/http://www.networkcomputing.com/1119/1119f1products_5.html |archive-date=January 5, 2010}} This reduces the forwarding latency. One drawback of this method is that it does not readily allow a mixture of different link speeds. Another is that packets that have been corrupted are still propagated through the network. The eventual remedy for this was a return to the original store and forward approach of bridging, where the packet is read into a buffer on the switch in its entirety, its frame check sequence verified and only then the packet is forwarded. In modern network equipment, this process is typically done using application-specific integrated circuits allowing packets to be forwarded at wire speed.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

When a twisted pair or fiber link segment is used and neither end is connected to a repeater, full-duplex Ethernet becomes possible over that segment. In full-duplex mode, both devices can transmit and receive to and from each other at the same time, and there is no collision domain.{{cite web |author=Nick Pidgeon |work=How Stuff Works |url=https://computer.howstuffworks.com/ethernet15.htm |title=Full-duplex Ethernet |date=April 2000 |access-date=February 3, 2020 |archive-date=June 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604085640/https://computer.howstuffworks.com/ethernet15.htm |url-status=live }} This doubles the aggregate bandwidth of the link and is sometimes advertised as double the link speed (for example, 200 Mbit/s for Fast Ethernet).{{Efn|This is misleading, as performance will double only if traffic patterns are symmetrical.}} The elimination of the collision domain for these connections also means that all the link's bandwidth can be used by the two devices on that segment and that segment length is not limited by the constraints of collision detection.

Since packets are typically delivered only to the port they are intended for, traffic on a switched Ethernet is less public than on shared-medium Ethernet. Despite this, switched Ethernet should still be regarded as an insecure network technology, because it is easy to subvert switched Ethernet systems by means such as ARP spoofing and MAC flooding.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}{{Cite book|last1=Wang|first1=Shuangbao Paul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFK_CyoyIGEC&pg=PT121|title=Computer Architecture and Security: Fundamentals of Designing Secure Computer Systems|last2=Ledley|first2=Robert S.|date=October 25, 2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-16883-7|language=en|access-date=October 2, 2020|archive-date=March 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210315204013/https://books.google.com/books?id=NFK_CyoyIGEC&pg=PT121|url-status=live}}

The bandwidth advantages, the improved isolation of devices from each other, the ability to easily mix different speeds of devices and the elimination of the chaining limits inherent in non-switched Ethernet have made switched Ethernet the dominant network technology.{{cite web |url=http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns340/ns394/ns74/ns149/net_business_benefit09186a00800c92b9_ps6600_Products_White_Paper.html |quote=Respondents were first asked about their current and planned desktop LAN attachment standards. The results were clear—switched Fast Ethernet is the dominant choice for desktop connectivity to the network |title=Token Ring-to-Ethernet Migration |publisher=Cisco |access-date=October 22, 2010 |archive-date=July 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708160911/http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns340/ns394/ns74/ns149/net_business_benefit09186a00800c92b9_ps6600_Products_White_Paper.html |url-status=live }}

File:Coreswitch (2634205113).jpg

Simple switched Ethernet networks, while a great improvement over repeater-based Ethernet, suffer from single points of failure, attacks that trick switches or hosts into sending data to a machine even if it is not intended for it, scalability and security issues with regard to switching loops, broadcast radiation, and multicast traffic.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

Advanced networking features in switches use Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) or the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) to maintain a loop-free, meshed network, allowing physical loops for redundancy (STP) or load-balancing (SPB). Shortest Path Bridging includes the use of the link-state routing protocol IS-IS to allow larger networks with shortest path routes between devices.

Advanced networking features also ensure port security, provide protection features such as MAC lockdown{{cite web |url=https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/it-security/lock-down-cisco-switch-port-security-88196/ |title=Lock down Cisco switch port security |author=David Davis |date=October 11, 2007 |access-date=April 19, 2020 |archive-date=July 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731010910/https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/it-security/lock-down-cisco-switch-port-security-88196/ |url-status=live }} and broadcast radiation filtering, use VLANs to keep different classes of users separate while using the same physical infrastructure, employ multilayer switching to route between different classes, and use link aggregation to add bandwidth to overloaded links and to provide some redundancy.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

In 2016, Ethernet replaced InfiniBand as the most popular system interconnect of TOP500 supercomputers.{{cite web |url=https://www.top500.org/lists/top500/2016/06/highlights/ |title=HIGHLIGHTS – JUNE 2016 |quote=InfiniBand technology is now found on 205 systems, down from 235 systems, and is now the second most-used internal system interconnect technology. Gigabit Ethernet has risen to 218 systems up from 182 systems, in large part thanks to 176 systems now using 10G interfaces. |date=June 2016 |access-date=February 19, 2021 |archive-date=January 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130100950/https://top500.org/lists/top500/2016/06/highlights/ |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Ethernet physical layer|Ethernet over twisted pair}}

The Ethernet physical layer evolved over a considerable time span and encompasses coaxial, twisted pair and fiber-optic physical media interfaces, with speeds from {{nowrap|1 Mbit/s}} to {{nowrap|400 Gbit/s}}.{{Cite web |title=[STDS-802-3-400G] IEEE P802.3bs Approved! |publisher=IEEE 802.3bs Task Force |url=http://www.ieee802.org/3/400GSG/email/msg01519.html |access-date=December 14, 2017 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612144057/http://www.ieee802.org/3/400GSG/email/msg01519.html |url-status=live }} The first introduction of twisted-pair CSMA/CD was StarLAN, standardized as 802.3 1BASE5.{{cite web| url = http://www.cs.nthu.edu.tw/~nfhuang/handouts/Chap04/sld022.htm| title = 1BASE5 Medium Specification (StarLAN)| date = December 28, 1996| access-date = November 11, 2014| website = cs.nthu.edu.tw| archive-date = July 10, 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150710151536/http://www.cs.nthu.edu.tw/~nfhuang/handouts/Chap04/sld022.htm| url-status = live}} While 1BASE5 had little market penetration, it defined the physical apparatus (wire, plug/jack, pin-out, and wiring plan) that would be carried over to 10BASE-T through 10GBASE-T.

The most common forms used are 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, and 1000BASE-T. All three use twisted-pair cables and 8P8C modular connectors. They run at {{nowrap|10 Mbit/s}}, {{nowrap|100 Mbit/s}}, and {{nowrap|1 Gbit/s}}, respectively.IEEE 802.3 14. Twisted-pair medium attachment unit (MAU) and baseband medium, type 10BASE-T including type 10BASE-TeIEEE 802.3 25. Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) sublayer and baseband medium, type 100BASE-TXIEEE 802.3 40. Physical Coding Sublayer (PCS), Physical Medium Attachment (PMA) sublayer and baseband medium, type 1000BASE-T

Fiber optic variants of Ethernet (that commonly use SFP modules) are also very popular in larger networks, offering high performance, better electrical isolation and longer distance (tens of kilometers with some versions). In general, network protocol stack software will work similarly on all varieties.IEEE 802.3 4.3 Interfaces to/from adjacent layers

File:SMSC LAN91C110 ethernet chip.jpg

{{Main|Ethernet frame}}

In IEEE 802.3, a datagram is called a packet or frame. Packet is used to describe the overall transmission unit and includes the preamble, start frame delimiter (SFD) and carrier extension (if present).{{Efn|The carrier extension is defined to assist collision detection on shared-media gigabit Ethernet.}} The frame begins after the start frame delimiter with a frame header featuring source and destination MAC addresses and the EtherType field giving either the protocol type for the payload protocol or the length of the payload. The middle section of the frame consists of payload data including any headers for other protocols (for example, Internet Protocol) carried in the frame. The frame ends with a 32-bit cyclic redundancy check, which is used to detect corruption of data in transit.{{Cite web

| url = http://standards.ieee.org/findstds/standard/802.3-2012.html

| title = 802.3-2012 – IEEE Standard for Ethernet

| date = December 28, 2012

| access-date = February 8, 2014

| publisher = IEEE Standards Association

| work = IEEE

| format = PDF

| archive-date = February 23, 2014

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140223215930/http://standards.ieee.org/findstds/standard/802.3-2012.html

| url-status = dead

}}{{rp|sections 3.1.1 and 3.2}} Notably, Ethernet packets have no time-to-live field, leading to possible problems in the presence of a switching loop.

{{Main|Autonegotiation}}

Autonegotiation is the procedure by which two connected devices choose common transmission parameters, e.g. speed and duplex mode. Autonegotiation was initially an optional feature, first introduced with 100BASE-TX (1995 IEEE 802.3u Fast Ethernet standard), and is backward compatible with 10BASE-T. The specification was improved in the 1998 release of IEEE 802.3. Autonegotiation is mandatory for 1000BASE-T and faster.

{{main|Switching loop}}

A switching loop or bridge loop occurs in computer networks when there is more than one Layer 2 (OSI model) path between two endpoints (e.g. multiple connections between two network switches or two ports on the same switch connected to each other). The loop creates broadcast storms as broadcasts and multicasts are forwarded by switches out every port, the switch or switches will repeatedly rebroadcast the broadcast messages flooding the network. Since the Layer 2 header does not support a time to live (TTL) value, if a frame is sent into a looped topology, it can loop forever.{{Cite web|title=Layer 2 Switching Loops in Network Explained|url=https://www.computernetworkingnotes.com/ccna-study-guide/layer-2-switching-loops-in-network-explained.html|access-date=January 8, 2022|website=ComputerNetworkingNotes|language=en-gb|archive-date=January 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108032858/https://www.computernetworkingnotes.com/ccna-study-guide/layer-2-switching-loops-in-network-explained.html|url-status=live}}

A physical topology that contains switching or bridge loops is attractive for redundancy reasons, yet a switched network must not have loops. The solution is to allow physical loops, but create a loop-free logical topology using the SPB protocol or the older STP on the network switches.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

A node that is sending longer than the maximum transmission window for an Ethernet packet is considered to be jabbering. Depending on the physical topology, jabber detection and remedy differ somewhat.

• An MAU is required to detect and stop abnormally long transmission from the DTE (longer than 20–150 ms) in order to prevent permanent network disruption.IEEE 802.3 8.2 MAU functional specifications
• On an electrically shared medium (10BASE5, 10BASE2, 1BASE5), jabber can only be detected by each end node, stopping reception. No further remedy is possible.IEEE 802.3 8.2.1.5 Jabber function requirements
• A repeater/repeater hub uses a jabber timer that ends retransmission to the other ports when it expires. The timer runs for 25,000 to 50,000 bit times for 1 Mbit/s,IEEE 802.3 12.4.3.2.3 Jabber function 40,000 to 75,000 bit times for 10 and 100 Mbit/s,IEEE 802.3 9.6.5 MAU Jabber Lockup ProtectionIEEE 802.3 27.3.2.1.4 Timers and 80,000 to 150,000 bit times for 1 Gbit/s.IEEE 802.3 41.2.2.1.4 Timers Jabbering ports are partitioned off the network until a carrier is no longer detected.IEEE 802.3 27.3.1.7 Receive jabber functional requirements
• End nodes utilizing a MAC layer will usually detect an oversized Ethernet frame and cease receiving. A bridge/switch will not forward the frame.IEEE 802.1 Table C-1—Largest frame base values
• A non-uniform frame size configuration in the network using jumbo frames may be detected as jabber by end nodes.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} Jumbo frames are not part of the official IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard.
• A packet detected as jabber by an upstream repeater and subsequently cut off has an invalid frame check sequence and is dropped.{{Citation |title=802.3-2012 - IEEE Standard for Ethernet |date=2012-12-28 |url=https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/1050839507018/IEEE%20Standard%20for%20Ethernet.pdf |access-date=2015-07-05 |publisher=IEEE Standards Association |section=3.1.1 Packet format}}

• Runts are packets or frames smaller than the minimum allowed size. They are dropped and not propagated.{{Cite web|title=Troubleshooting Ethernet|url=http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/internetworking/troubleshooting/guide/tr1904.html|access-date=May 18, 2021|website=Cisco|language=en|archive-date=March 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303071756/https://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/internetworking/troubleshooting/guide/tr1904.html|url-status=live}}

{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}

• 5-4-3 rule
• Chaosnet
• Ethernet Alliance
• Ethernet crossover cable
• Ethernet Technology Consortium
• Fiber media converter
• ISO/IEC 11801
• Link Layer Discovery Protocol
• List of interface bit rates
• LocalTalk
• PHY
• Physical coding sublayer
• Power over Ethernet
• Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE)
• Sneakernet
• Wake-on-LAN (WoL)

{{Div col end}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite journal |author1=Digital Equipment Corporation |author2=Intel Corporation |author3=Xerox Corporation | date = September 1980 | title = The Ethernet: A Local Area Network | url = http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1015591.1015594 | doi=10.1145/1015591.1015594 | journal=ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review | volume=11 | issue=3 | pages=20 |s2cid=31441899 }} Version 1.0 of the DIX specification.
• {{Cite web |work=Internetworking Technology Handbook |title=Ethernet Technologies |url=http://docwiki.cisco.com/wiki/Ethernet_Technologies |publisher=Cisco Systems |access-date=April 11, 2011 |archive-date=December 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228005303/http://docwiki.cisco.com/wiki/Ethernet_Technologies |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite book | author = Charles E. Spurgeon | title = Ethernet: The Definitive Guide | url = https://archive.org/details/ethernetdefiniti0000spur | url-access = registration | year = 2000 | publisher = O'Reilly Media | isbn = 978-1565-9266-08}}
• {{cite web |title= Ethernet History |work= blog |author= Yogen Dalal |url= http://ethernethistory.typepad.com/}}

{{Commons category|Ethernet}}

• [http://www.ieee802.org/3/ IEEE 802.3 Ethernet working group]
• [https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/802.3/6003/ IEEE 802.3-2015 – superseded]
• [https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/802.3/7071/ IEEE 802.3-2018 standard]

{{Ethernet}}

{{Internet access}}

{{Basic computer components}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:American inventions

Category:IEEE standards

Category:Computer-related introductions in 1980