Ethernet

   A popular network protocol and cabling scheme with a transfer rate of 10Mbps, originally developed at Xerox in 1970 by Dr. Robert Metcalf. Ethernet uses a bus topology, and network nodes are connected by either thick or thin coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, or twisted-pair cable. Ethernet uses CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection) to prevent network failures or collisions when two devices try to access the network at exactly the same time. The original DIX (Digital Equipment, Intel, Xerox), or Blue Book, standard has evolved into the slightly more complex IEEE 802.3 standard and the ISO's 8802.3 specification.

   The advantages of Ethernet include:

   • And the disadvantages include:

   • Heavy traffic can slow down the network.

   • A break in the main cable can bring down large parts of the network.

   • Troubleshooting a bus topology can prove difficult.

   See also 10/100; 100VG-AnyLAN; 10Base2; 10Base5; 10BaseF; 10BaseT; demand priority; Fast Ethernet; Gigabit Ethernet.