6.5: What is Ethernet?
Description
This article is from the AmiTCP/IP FAQ, by Mike Meyer with numerous contributions by others.
6.5: What is Ethernet?
(thanks to http://foldoc.org/ :)
A coaxial cable local area network first described by Metcalfe & Boggs of Xerox PARC in 1976. Specified by DEC, INTEL & XEROX (DIX), it's now recognised as the industry standard. Data is broken into packets, and packets are transmitted using the CSMA/CD algorithm until they arrive at the destination without colliding with any other.
The coaxial cable form of ethernet is commonly called 10Base2 or thinnet. Other forms included a twisted pair cable with modular plugs knows as 10BaseT, which is currently more popular than 10Base2. 10Base% connets to a hub instead of along a line. An even older form of cable is a half-inch shielded cable known as thicknet.
Ethernet usage is described in lots of RFCs. Read the index if you're that keen to find out.
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