A1- 3
The 10-Mbps Standard Ethernet has gone through several
changes before moving to the higher data rates. These changes actually
opened the road to the evolution of the Ethernet to become compatible with
other high-data-rate LANs, and the use of Ethernet switch which raise the
bandwidth and separate collision domains [31].
A1. 3 Switched Ethernet A 1 -
Ethernet switches are one of the important components of the
computer networking technology. The idea of a switched LAN is the
extended of a bridged LAN, that instead of having two to four networks, it
would be to have N networks, where N is the number of ports on the
switch. In this way, the bandwidth is shared only between the network and
the switch [32]. In addition, the collision domain is divided into N domains.
A layer 2 switch is an N-port bridge with additional sophistication that
allows faster handling of the packets [32]. Evolution from a bridged
Ethernet to a switched Ethernet was a big step that opened the way to an
even faster Ethernet [30]. Figure A 1 .3 shows a switched Ethernet.
A1. 4 Full-duplex switched Ethernet A 1 -
A 1 .3.2 Ethernet Switch operation
In working aspects Ethernet switches are quite similar to that of
the Ethernet hubs. But they are more reliable and faster than that and their
