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Overview
The Switch provides an easy, affordable, high-performance,
seamless, and standard-based migration path to a 100BASE-TX
LAN while preserving your initial investment and use of 10Mbps
Ethernet LANs.
100Mbps Fast Ethernet Introduction
Computers today have become increasingly powerful, with the
capability to accommodate very sophisticated uses such as
multimedia applications, video-conferencing, and CAD/CAM. To
utilize these technologically advanced applications more
efficiently, there is also a growing demand for faster networks that
can handle heavy network traffic.
Recognizing this need for greater bandwidth and lower latency, a
variety of technologies such as FDDI, ATM, and 100Mbps Fast
Ethernet have been adopted by many vendors. 100Mbps Fast
Ethernet technology stands out as the most inexpensive and
smoothest migration path for existing 10Mbps Ethernet users.
100Mbps Fast Ethernet is a relatively new standard specified by
the IEEE 802.3 LAN committee. It is an extension of the 10Mbps
Ethernet standard with the ability to transmit and receive data at
100Mbps, while maintaining the CSMA/CD Ethernet protocol.
Since 100Mbps Fast Ethernet is compatible with all 10Mbps
Ethernet environments, it provides a straight-forward upgrade
without wasting the company’s existing investment in hardware,
software, and trained personnel.