Frequently Asked Questions

Fast Ethernet is a natural extension of the existing 10 Mbps Ethernet technology. It is backward compatible with existing networking protocols, media, and standards. It is cost-effective, easy to deploy, and offers 10 times the speed of 10Base-T Ethernet at a low cost of ownership. 100Base-T's backward compatibility allows information resource departments to protect their investment in Ethernet expertise while delivering the performance required by power users.

100Base-T Fast Ethernet consists of five component specifications: the Media Access Control (MAC) layer,the Media Independent Interface (MII), and three physical layers supporting the most widely used cabling types. Each of these components was designed to preserve compatibility with 10 Mbps Ethernet and existing installations.

The Fast Ethernet architecture allows scalable performance up to 100 Mbps,meaning that higher throughput of the workstation at the sending or receiving end directly translates into more performance through the network. With a Fast Ethernet connection, users can finally tap into the network I/O performance of their high-end workstations and servers.

The growing importance of LANs and the increasing demand for data in a variety of forms (text, digital images, and voice) are fueling the need for high-bandwidth networks. To continue to support business operations, information systems (IS) managers must consider extending or replacing traditional network technologies with new, high-performance solutions. IS managers with networks already running on 10 megabit per second (Mbps) Ethernet have an advantage. They can easily upgrade to Fast Ethernet for 100 Mbps performance with minimal cost and service disruption.

As a simple evolution of the familiar IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard, 100Base-T Fast Ethernet preserves the core structure of Ethernet and includes support for up to 100Mbps and the most widely used cabling schemes. It can be easily integrated with existing 10 Mbps Ethernet networks to provide ten times more network throughput to the desktop at a minimal incremental cost. Its interoperability with other low- and high-bandwidth networking technologies offers network administrators more flexibility in structuring high-speed LANs and WANs.

The growing importance of LANs and the increasing complexity of user applications are fueling the need for high-speed networks. A number of high-speed LAN technologies have been proposed to provide greater bandwidth to satisfy this need. Among them is 100BASE-T Fast Ethernet, a technology designed to provide a smooth transition from 10Base-T Ethernet--currently the dominant 10-Mbps network type--to high-speed 100-Mbps performance. A second option for increasing peripheral connectivity is the fast/wide Wide Ultra2 SCSI interface. A single card that supports both 10/100 Mbps Ethernet and fast/wide Wide Ultra2 SCSI connections give the end users the best performance at the lowest cost, in addition to the saving of a expansion slot in the system.

The following cables are available:

X1134A 530-2452-02 (CBL, Ultra SCSI-3/VHDCI, 68P, 0.8m)
X3832A 530-2453-02 (CBL, Ultra SCSI-3/VHDCI, 68P, 2m)
X3830A 530-2454-02 (CBL, Ultra SCSI-3/VHDCI, 68P, 4m)
X3831A 530-2455-02 (CBL, Ultra SCSI-3/VHDCI, 68P, 10m)

For a device to be bootable, the driver for the device is built into the operating system. Other cards usually require the drivers to be installed from a CD-ROM, but the Sun Dual Fast Ethernet + Dual SCSI PCI adapter's drivers are part of the Solaris[tm] 8 Operating Environment.

Low Voltage Differential (LVD) has an advantage over single-ended SCSI interfaces in that it allows the use of longer SCSI cables, enabling storage arrays to be placed further from the server.