Fast Ethernet is a type of network standard that improves the basics of Ethernet by raising its speed to 100 Mbps. Developed to address the increasing need for greater bandwidths in LANs, Fast Ethernet results in faster transfer of information in the bandwidth and enhanced performance of the Local Area Networks. Today it is employed most commonly in corporate networks and schools, as well as data centers to offer optimal data communication of computers and other devices. The given technology is full-duplex capable as well as half-duplex and thus can work in several different network configurations and for various purposes.

What is Fast Ethernet?

Fast Ethernet is the title given to the Ethernet standards which operate at the proclaimed speeds of one hundred Mbps as opposed to the standard Ethernet with a speed of ten Mbps. It was developed in the mid-1990s and is a greatly enhanced speed version needed to cope with the need for greater bandwidth and performance from the network. Fast Ethernet can have several physical layers for example 100BASE-TX (utilizes twisted pair cables) as well as 100BASE-FX (utilizes fiber optic cables). This was possible because the standard was backward compatible with earlier 10 Mpbs Ethernet networks, and thus upgrades were possible.

Features of Fast Ethernet

• Increased Speed: Gives ten times the operating bandwidth of the original ten Mbps Ethernet and offers a data rate of one hundred Mbps.
• Backward Compatibility: Suitable to be integrated into networks that used the older 10 Mbps Ethernet standards thus no need to make widespread changes to implement the new system.
• Media Flexibility: Supports the copper cables known as twisted pairs for 100BASE-TX and also the fibre optic cables, 100BASE-FX.
• Collision Detection: CSMA/CD is employed for data transmission to avoid collisions on the network or to deal with collisions if they occur.
• Cost-Effective: A cost-efficient approach to raising the speeds on the various networks, while at the same time fully utilizing the existing cabling without incurring high costs of new installations.

Understanding the MAC Sublayer

The Media Access Control (MAC) sublayer lies in the upper layers of the OSI hierarchy, particularly in the data link layer (Layer 2). Its main function is to control access to the physical network medium and provide data packet transmission and reception over the local area network (LAN). The MAC sublayer is responsible for two main functions: interface protocols and addressing and channel access control.

• Addressing: Every node in a network has a MAC address which is a 48-bit address used to enable the transmitting device to send data to the receiving or target device. These addresses are utilized by the MAC sublayer to differentiate between the devices connected to the same network.
• Channel Access Control: The MAC sublayer controls multiple devices’ access to the network medium and mechanisms such as Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) to capably control the access and to effectively handle cases of collision.

Frame Structure in Fast Ethernet

The frame structure in Fast Ethernet is similar to the structure of an original Ethernet but is modified to support higher communication speeds. The frame consists of several fields, each serving a specific function:

• Preamble: A seven-byte field of an ultimate of 1’s and 0’s used to SCO in the receiver’s divider.
• Start Frame Delimiter (SFD): A 1-byte field used to point to the start of the frame.
• Destination MAC Address: A 6-byte field that holds the Media Access Control (MAC) address of the recipient device is included.
• Source MAC Address: A six-byte field with the address of the transmitting device in the form of a MAC address.
• Length/Type: A 2-byte field that may provide the length of the payload or the identifying number of the used protocol.
• Data/Payload: The raw data that is exchanged between the diversity including 46 to 1500 bytes.
• Frame Check Sequence (FCS): An Error checking field which is a 4-byte data item.

Physical Layer Specifications in Fast Ethernet

Physical Media

Since Fast Ethernet is just a transformation in data rate, it can operate on a variety of physical media like twisted pair cables and fibres. The two often used standards are the 100BASE-TX and the 100BASE-FX.

Twisted Pair Cables

• Cat5: For connectivity with wired facilities for 100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet, it is necessary to have at least Category 5 (Cat5) cables installed. This type has four twisted pairs of copper wires and possesses a data transfer rate of up to 100 Mbps.
• Cat5e: Enhanced Cat5 often referred to as Category 5e cables provide increased capacity over Cat5, with better S/N and less crosstalk. It is also used for 100BASE-TX and can work up to 1 Gbps which makes it capable of working with Gigabit Ethernet too.

Fibre Optics

• 100BASE-FX: This standard employs multimode fibre optic cables for hauling data for longer distances. It supports distances up to 2 km and, thus is used for backbone connections and environments where there is a need to have high immunity to noise and long transmission distances.

Applications of Fast Ethernet

1. Local Area Networks (LANs)

Fast Ethernet plays an important role in LANs and it is quite popular due to its efficiency in connecting PCs, servers, printers, and many other devices at the enterprise, school, or any other institution. For general use in an office environment, such as sharing documents and files, printing, and browsing, it provides adequate bandwidth.

2. Backbone Networks

In larger network environments Fast Ethernet is used to form the backbone network that interconnects several small-sized networks or segments. This makes it possible to transfer data from one part of an organization to another for instance from one floor to the other or from one department to the other.

3. Network Upgrades

Fast Ethernet finds its applicability where there are already established 10 Mbps Ethernet networks and organizations want to have a higher speed without changing the existing wiring too much. As for a disadvantage, Fast Ethernet has a backward compatibility feature with 10 Mbps Ethernet; thus, the transition is seamless.

4. Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs):

Fast Ethernet is appropriate for SMEs that require a higher bandwidth than offered by 10Mbps Ethernet but do not need the higher speed and consequently the higher price of Gigabit Ethernet. It is applied to ordinary business activities, which range from email use to web services, together with database connection.

5. Home Networking

Fast Ethernet is used in home networking and ensures fast and reliable internet connection and streaming, gaming or any activity requiring internet as well as for connecting home devices like PCs, gaming consoles, smart Televisions, and NAS or network-attached storage devices.

6. Educational Institutions

Institutions such as schools, colleges and universities incorporate Fast Ethernet to link the computer labs, libraries, offices, and class sections. It facilitates any educational process and most online classes, collaborations of students and staff members, and the sharing of numerous resources.

7. Industrial Automation

Fast Ethernet is employed in industrial applications for linking controllers, sensors as well as other automation devices. Due to these characteristics, it is ideal for sending data in real-time or for controlling manufacturing processes.

8. Video Surveillance

Fast Ethernet is active in video surveillance that has an IP basis and delivers adequate bandwidth for video streaming from various surveillance cameras to a monitoring station or any other recording equipment.

9. VoIP (Voice Over IP)

Fast Ethernet also supports the VoIP solutions that have made it possible to transmit voice conversation through the network. It offers the needed bandwidth as well as low latency that is associated with effective voice calls.

10. Healthcare

To boost their operation, medical devices, Computers, and information systems in hospitals and clinics apply Fast Ethernet. It enables the patients’ record and image exchange and other vital information within a short time thus enhancing the patient care and operations.

Limitations of Fast Ethernet

• Speed Limitations: 100 Mbps Ceiling: Fast Ethernet works at a speed of up to 100 Mbps. That is to say, the speed may not be sufficient for many modern applications, let alone, HD video streaming, file transfers, cloud computing and more. Gigabit Ethernet (1 Gbps) or higher-speed solutions are used in such applications and cases.
• Scalability Issues: Network Growth: With increasing network requirements, 100 Mbps of the Fast Ethernet is too slow in terms of transmission capability. In many cases, using a faster technology such as Gigabit Ethernet or 10 Gigabit Ethernet becomes required to address growing traffic, and the number of devices on the network.
• Limited Future-Proofing: The Ethernet at a fast speed may not offer room for future expansion of the network and demand of the network thus; they are not ideal for the future expansion of networks.
• Cable Length Restrictions: Twisted Pair Limitations: In cases of Fast Ethernet, the maximum allowed cable length is a hundred meters for twisted pair cables (100BASE-TX). For larger installations, structures like the switch and repeater might be necessary to expand the network, which brings in complications and expenses.
• Fiber Optic Cost: It is possible to do this with fibre optics (100BASE-FX) which go up to 2 kilometres although fibre optic cabling and all related gear are more expensive than twisted pair.
• Collision Domains: Collision Domains in Hubs: In networks that have hubs all the connected devices are on the same collision domain. These can result in more interference and less effective data transmission as the amount of devices augments. Switches minimize this problem by isolating every port into its collision domain but this is done at a cost and complexity.
• Hardware Support: This kind of handling means that both the NICs on the networking devices and the switches themselves have the capability of full-duplex handling since it does not allow collision and allows for both sending and receiving of information at the same time. This is because older equipment could support only half-duplex so the throughput could still be considerably affected.
• Power Consumption: Higher Power Usage: While Fast Ethernet products are more power-hungry than modern, it is more commonly utilized switch products like the ones depicted below. It can be crucial in installations with a lot of watts where every power or cooling issue might be a significant problem.
• Quality of Service (QoS): There is always a possibility that Fast Ethernet may not be capable of the kind of advanced Quality of Service also known as QoS that is familiar in higher speed networks because today’s data networks require the priority treatment of traffic types including voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and video conferencing.
• Security Features: Subsequent Ethernet standards add new and possibly strong features for security that may not be supported under Fast Ethernet.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Fast Ethernet utilizing the 100 Mbps data transmission rate has been a tremendous jump from the basic Ethernet which is well suited for many networking implementations that demand an affordable solution. They have commonly been implemented in LANs, SMEs, schools, and other such organizations. But even in these scenarios, it is not perfect; its limitations include scalability problems, and speed limitations and for most of the modern, high-end environments; Gigabit Ethernet or higher-speed protocols would be more appropriate. However, it can be seen that Fast Ethernet still holds significant value and usability for a multitude of purposes within modern networking.

Frequently Asked Questions on Fast Ethernet – FAQs

What is the maximum number of devices that can be connected in a Fast Ethernet network?

Compared with the Fast Ethernet networks which are implemented in hubs and collapses, up to 1024 devices can be connected but the capability is restricted by the collision domain. Switching is used there because when different ports are separated into different collision domains it is possible to have a lot of devices without any influence on the performance.

Can Fast Ethernet be used for wireless networking?

Fast Ethernet is a wired technology. But, it can be used together with wireless base stations for the establishment of wired backhauls which contributes to the overall performance and stability of the wireless networks.

How does Fast Ethernet handle network congestion?

The priority of Fast Ethernet for congestion control it uses CSMA/CD for the collision detection and the backoff algorithm for congestion control. Switches also aid in controlling congestion through collision domains’ reduction and along with the help of buffer area for holding extra packets for a short while.

Is Fast Ethernet suitable for streaming high-definition video?

Today, Fast Ethernet can provide the required level of connection for high-definition video, but it can fail in conditions of multiple simultaneous video streams or very high definitions. This type of application to be effective requires carrier-grade like Gigabit Ethernet and higher speed.

How does Fast Ethernet support network redundancy and reliability?

Redundancy is possible in Fast Ethernet by creating multiple switches, creating multiple paths, and utilizing STP in the networks to avoid the creation of loops.