User`s guide

Signamax 065-7931 16-Port 10/100/1000BaseT/TX WebSmart Switch
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3. Basic Concept and
Management
This chapter will tell you the basic concept of features to manage this switch
and how they work.
3-1. What’s Ethernet?
Ethernet originated and was implemented at Xerox in Palo Alto, CA in 1973
and was successfully commercialized by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Intel
and Xerox (DIX) in 1980. In 1992, Grand Junction Networks unveiled a new high
speed Ethernet with the same characteristic of the original Ethernet but operated at
100 Mbps, now called Fast Ethernet. This means Fast Ethernet inherits the same
frame format, CSMA/CD, software interface. In 1998, Gigabit Ethernet was rolled
out and provided 1000 Mbps. Now 10G/s Ethernet is in the approval process.
Although these Ethernet architectures have different speeds, they still use the same
basic functions. Therefore, they are compatible in software and can connect to each
other almost without limitation. The transmission media may be the only concern.
Fig. 3-1 IEEE 802.3 reference model vs. OSI reference mode
In Fig. 3-1, we can see that Ethernet is located at the Data Link layer and
Physical layer and is comprised of three portions, including logical link control (LLC),
media access control (MAC), and the physical layer. The first two portions comprise
the Data link layer, which performs the functions of splitting data into frames for
transmitting, receiving acknowledgement frames, error checking and re-transmitting
when not received correctly, as well as providing an error-free channel upward to
the network layer.