Ethernet

Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN) and also wide area networks (WAN).
Over time, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies by providing higher bit rates, a greater number of nodes, and longer link distances and decent backward compatibility.
- It was first standardized in 1983 as IEEE 802.3 using a coaxial cable as a shared medium.
- Newer Ethernet variants rely on switches to transfer data over twisted pair (most commonly 10BASE‑T, 100BASE-TX, and 1000BASE‑T) and fiber optic links, enabling speeds of up to 400 gigabits per second (Gbit/s).
- Fiber optic variants of Ethernet (often using SFP modules) are also very common in larger networks, offering high performance, better electrical isolation and longer distances (sometimes tens of kilometers).
- In general, the physical medium does not affect the protocol stack software.
- The Ethernet standards comprise several wiring and signaling variants of the OSI physical layer relying on Ethernet.
- Ethernet is widely used in both homes and industry, interworking well with wireless Wi-Fi technologies. The Internet Protocol is commonly carried over Ethernet, which is why it is considered one of the key technologies making up the Internet.
- Within the OSI model, Ethernet always provides the physical layer (1) and can also include the data link layer (2). The 48-bit MAC address was adopted by other IEEE 802 networking standards, including Wi-FI (IEEE 802.11), as well as FDDI.
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Ethernet Frame
In IEEE 802.3, datagrams are either packets or frames. Packets describe the overall transmission unit including the preamble, start frame delimiter (SFD) and carrier extension (if present). The frame comes after the start frame delimiter with a frame header featuring source and destination MAC addresses as well as the EtherType field containing either the protocol type for the payload protocol or the length of the payload. The payload data is found in the middle of the frame, also including headers for other (for example IP) protocols. The frame ends with a 32-bit cyclic redundancy check (CRC), which is used to detect corruption of transiting data. Ethernet packets have no time-to-live field, which can lead to problems when a switching loop occurs.

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Network Redundancy
- HSR — High-availability Seamless Redundancy
- PRP — Parallel Redundancy Protocol
- Ethernet
- MAC — Medium Access Control
- VLAN — Virtual Local Area Network
- IEC 62439–3
- Network Redundancy
HSR (High-availability Seamless Redundancy) is a redundancy protocol for Ethernet networks requiring short reaction times and high availability, as for example protection systems at electrical substations.
Unlike common redundancy protocols like RSTP, HSR reacts to any network component failures seamlessly (without recovery time) and is invisible to the application.
PRP (Parallel Redundancy Protocol) is a redundancy protocol for Ethernet based networks requiring high availability and a short switchover time, as for example protection systems at electrical substations.
Unlike common redundancy protocols like RSTP, PRP reacts to any network component failures seamlessly (without recovery time) and is invisible to the application.
Ethernet is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN) and also wide area networks (WAN).
Over time, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies by providing higher bit rates, a greater number of nodes, and longer link distances and decent backward compatibility.
The Medium Access Control (MAC) sublayer provides flow control and multiplexing for the transmission medium to control the hardware that interacts with the wired, optic and also wireless transmission media in the IEEE 802 LAN/MAN data link layer.
The MAC is accompanied by the LLC sublayer, which provides flow control and multiplexing for the logical link (i.e. EtherType, 802.1Q VLAN tag etc.)
A Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) is a is a subnetwork which can group together collections of devices that are connected to separate physical LANs.
VLANs allow network administrators to partition a single switched network in order to keep network applications separate despite being connected to the same physical network, without requiring new cabling or major changes in the current network infrastructure.
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Network redundancy is a method to ensure network availability, providing failover when a device or network path fails or becomes unavailable.
Redundancy is usually achieved by installing additional or alternative network devices, communication media or equipment within the network infrastructure
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