Ethernet: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition

Ethernet: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition

by Charles E. Spurgeon, Joann Zimmerman
Released March 2014
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9781449363000

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Book description

Get up to speed on the latest Ethernet capabilities for building and maintaining networks for everything from homes and offices to data centers and server machine rooms. This thoroughly revised, comprehensive guide covers a wide range of Ethernet technologies, from basic operation to network management, based on the authors’ many years of field experience.

When should you upgrade to higher speed Ethernet? How do you use switches to build larger networks? How do you troubleshoot the system? This book provides the answers. If you’re looking to build a scalable network with Ethernet to satisfy greater bandwidth and market requirements, this book is indeed the definitive guide.

  • Examine the most widely used media systems, as well as advanced 40 and 100 gigabit Ethernet
  • Learn about Ethernet’s four basic elements and the IEEE standards
  • Explore full-duplex Ethernet, Power over Ethernet, and Energy Efficient Ethernet
  • Understand structured cabling systems and the components you need to build your Ethernet system
  • Use Ethernet switches to expand and improve network design
  • Delve into Ethernet performance, from specific channels to the entire network
  • Get troubleshooting techniques for problems common to twisted-pair and fiber optic systems

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Table of contents

  1. Preface
    1. Ethernet Is Everywhere
      1. Cost
      2. Scalability
      3. Reliability
      4. Widely Available Management Tools
    2. Design for Reliability
      1. Downtime is Expensive
    3. How to Use This Book
    4. Organization of This Book
    5. Disclaimer
    6. Conventions Used in This Book
    7. Safari® Books Online
    8. How to Contact Us
    9. Acknowledgments
  2. I. Introduction to Ethernet
    1. 1. The Evolution of Ethernet
      1. History of Ethernet
        1. The Aloha Network
        2. The Invention of Ethernet
      2. Reinventing Ethernet
        1. Reinventing Ethernet for Twisted-Pair Media
        2. Reinventing Ethernet for 100 Mb/s
        3. Reinventing Ethernet for 1000 Mb/s
        4. Reinventing Ethernet for 10, 40, and 100 Gb/s
        5. Reinventing Ethernet for New Capabilities
      3. Ethernet Switches
      4. The Future of Ethernet
    2. 2. IEEE Ethernet Standards
      1. Evolution of the Ethernet Standard
      2. Ethernet Media Standards
        1. IEEE Supplements
        2. Draft Standards
        3. Differences Between DIX and IEEE Standards
      3. Organization of IEEE Standards
        1. The Seven Layers of OSI
        2. IEEE Sublayers Within the OSI Model
      4. Levels of Compliance
        1. The Effect of Standards Compliance
      5. IEEE Media System Identifiers
        1. 10 Megabit per Second (Mb/s) Media Systems
        2. 100 Mb/s Media Systems
        3. 1000 Mb/s Media Systems
        4. 10 Gb/s Media Systems
        5. 40 Gb/s Media Systems
        6. 100 Gb/s Media Systems
    3. 3. The Ethernet System
      1. The Four Basic Elements of Ethernet
        1. The Ethernet Frame
        2. The Media Access Control Protocol
          1. Multicast and broadcast addresses
          2. The CSMA/CD protocol
          3. Collisions
        3. Hardware
          1. Signaling components
          2. Media components
      2. Network Protocols and Ethernet
        1. Best-Effort Delivery
        2. Design of Network Protocols
        3. Protocol Encapsulation
        4. Internet Protocol and Ethernet Addresses
          1. Operation of the ARP protocol
          2. Reaching a station on a separate network
        5. Looking Ahead
    4. 4. The Ethernet Frame and Full-Duplex Mode
      1. The Ethernet Frame
        1. Preamble
        2. Destination Address
          1. Understanding physical addresses
        3. Source Address
        4. Q-Tag
        5. Envelope Prefix and Suffix
        6. Type or Length Field
        7. Data Field
        8. FCS Field
        9. End of Frame Detection
      2. Full-Duplex Media Access Control
        1. Full-Duplex Operation
        2. Effects of Full-Duplex Operation
        3. Configuring Full-Duplex Operation
        4. Full-Duplex Media Support
        5. Full-Duplex Media Segment Distances
      3. Ethernet Flow Control
        1. PAUSE Operation
      4. High-Level Protocols and the Ethernet Frame
        1. Multiplexing Data in Frames
        2. IEEE Logical Link Control
        3. The LLC Sub-Network Access Protocol
    5. 5. Auto-Negotiation
      1. Development of Auto-Negotiation
        1. Auto-Negotiation for Fiber Optic Media
      2. Basic Concepts of Auto-Negotiation
      3. Auto-Negotiation Signaling
        1. FLP Burst Operation
      4. Auto-Negotiation Operation
        1. Parallel Detection
        2. Operation of Parallel Detection
        3. Parallel Detection and Duplex Mismatch
        4. Auto-Negotiation Completion Timing
      5. Auto-Negotiation and Cabling Issues
        1. Limiting Ethernet Speed over Category 3 Cable
        2. Cable Issues and Gigabit Ethernet Auto-Negotiation
        3. Crossover Cables and Auto-Negotiation
      6. 1000BASE-X Auto-Negotiation
      7. Auto-Negotiation Commands
        1. Disabling Auto-Negotiation
      8. Auto-Negotiation Debugging
        1. General Debugging Information
          1. Media converters and Auto-Negotiation
        2. Debugging Tools and Commands
          1. Troubleshooting Auto-Negotiation
      9. Developing a Link Configuration Policy
        1. Link Configuration Policies for Enterprise Networks
        2. Issues with Manual Configuration
    6. 6. Power Over Ethernet
      1. Power Over Ethernet Standards
        1. Goals of the PoE Standard
        2. Devices That May Be Powered Over Ethernet
        3. Benefits of PoE
      2. PoE Device Roles
      3. PoE Type Parameters
      4. PoE Operation
        1. Power Detection
        2. Power Classification
          1. Physical layer classification method
          2. Data link layer classification method
          3. Mutual identification
        3. Link Power Maintenance
        4. Power Fault Monitoring
      5. PoE and Cable Pairs
        1. PoE and Ethernet Cabling
          1. Modifying cabling specifications
      6. PoE Power Management
        1. PoE Power Requirements
        2. PoE Port Management
        3. PoE Monitoring and Power Policing
      7. Vendor Extensions to the Standard
        1. Cisco UPoE
        2. Microsemi EEPoE
        3. Power over HDBaseT (POH)
  3. II. Ethernet Media Systems
    1. 7. Ethernet Media Signaling and Energy Efficient Ethernet
      1. Media Independent Interfaces
      2. Ethernet PHY Components
      3. Ethernet Signal Encoding
        1. Baseband Signaling Issues
        2. Baseline Wander and Signal Encoding
        3. Advanced Signaling Techniques
      4. Ethernet Interface
        1. Higher-Speed Ethernet Interfaces
      5. Energy Efficient Ethernet
        1. IEEE EEE Standard
          1. EEE media systems
        2. EEE Operation
          1. EEE states
          2. Managing EEE
          3. EEE negotiation
        3. Impact of EEE Operation on Latency
        4. EEE Power Savings
          1. EEE power savings in an interface
          2. EEE power savings in a switch
    2. 8. 10 Mb/s Ethernet
      1. 10BASE-T Media System
        1. 10BASE-T Ethernet Interface
        2. Signal Polarity and Polarity Reversal
        3. 10BASE-T Signal Encoding
          1. Physical line signaling
        4. 10BASE-T Media Components
          1. UTP cable
            1. 10BASE-T segments longer than 100 meters
            2. Twisted-pair impedance rating
          2. Eight-position RJ45-style jack connectors
        5. Connecting a Station to 10BASE-T Ethernet
        6. 10BASE-T Link Integrity Test
        7. 10BASE-T Configuration Guidelines
      2. Fiber Optic Media Systems (10BASE-F)
        1. Old and New Fiber Link Segments
        2. 10BASE-FL Signaling Components
        3. 10BASE-FL Ethernet Interface
        4. 10BASE-FL Signal Encoding
          1. Physical line signaling
        5. 10BASE-FL Media Components
      3. 10BASE-FL Fiber Optic Characteristics
        1. Alternate 10BASE-FL Fiber Optic Cables
        2. Fiber Optic Connectors
        3. Connecting a 10BASE-FL Ethernet Segment
        4. 10BASE-FL Link Integrity Test
        5. 10BASE-FL Configuration Guidelines
          1. Longer 10 Mb/s fiber segments
    3. 9. 100 Mb/s Ethernet
      1. 100BASE-X Media Systems
      2. Fast Ethernet Twisted-Pair Media Systems (100BASE-TX)
        1. 100BASE-TX Signaling Components
        2. 100BASE-TX Ethernet Interface
        3. 100BASE-TX Signal Encoding
          1. 100BASE-X encoding
          2. 100BASE-TX physical line signaling
        4. 100BASE-TX Media Components
          1. UTP cable
          2. Eight-position RJ45-style jack connectors
        5. 100BASE-TX Link Integrity Test
        6. 100BASE-TX Configuration Guidelines
      3. Fast Ethernet Fiber Optic Media Systems (100BASE-FX)
        1. 100BASE-FX Signaling Components
        2. 100BASE-FX Signal Encoding
          1. Physical line signaling
        3. 100BASE-FX Media Components
          1. Fiber optic cable
          2. Fiber optic connectors
          3. 100BASE-FX transceivers
      4. 100BASE-FX Fiber Optic Characteristics
        1. Alternate 100BASE-FX Fiber Optic Cables
        2. 100BASE-FX Link Integrity Test
        3. 100BASE-FX Configuration Guidelines
        4. Long Fiber Segments
    4. 10. Gigabit Ethernet
      1. Gigabit Ethernet Twisted-Pair Media Systems (1000BASE-T)
        1. 1000BASE-T Signaling Components
        2. 1000BASE-T Signal Encoding
          1. Signaling and data rate
          2. Signal clocking
          3. 1000BASE-T cabling requirements
        3. 1000BASE-T Media Components
          1. UTP cable
          2. Eight-position RJ45-style jack connectors
        4. 1000BASE-T Link Integrity Test
        5. 1000BASE-T Configuration Guidelines
      2. Gigabit Ethernet Fiber Optic Media Systems (1000BASE-X)
        1. 1000BASE-X Signaling Components
        2. 1000BASE-X Link Integrity Test
        3. 1000BASE-X Signal Encoding
          1. Physical line signaling
        4. 1000BASE-X Media Components
          1. Fiber optic cable
          2. Fiber optic connectors
          3. 1000BASE-X transceivers
      3. 1000BASE-X Fiber Optic Specifications
        1. 1000BASE-SX Loss Budget
        2. 1000BASE-LX Loss Budget
        3. 1000BASE-LX/LH Long Haul Loss Budget
      4. 1000BASE-SX and 1000BASE-LX Configuration Guidelines
      5. Differential Mode Delay
        1. Mode-Conditioning Patch Cord
    5. 11. 10 Gigabit Ethernet
      1. 10 Gigabit Standards Architecture
      2. 10 Gigabit Ethernet Twisted-Pair Media Systems (10GBASE-T)
        1. 10GBASE-T Signaling Components
        2. 10GBASE-T Signal Encoding
          1. Signaling and data rate
          2. Signal clocking
          3. 10GBASE-T cabling requirements
        3. 10GBASE-T Media Components
          1. Eight-position RJ45-style jack connectors
        4. 10GBASE-T Link Integrity Test
        5. 10GBASE-T Configuration Guidelines
        6. 10GBASE-T Short-Reach Mode
        7. 10GBASE-T Signal Latency
      3. 10 Gigabit Ethernet Short Copper Cable Media Systems (10GBASE-CX4)
      4. 10 Gigabit Ethernet Short Copper Direct Attach Cable Media Systems (10GSFP+Cu)
        1. 10GSFP+Cu Signaling Components
        2. 10GSFP+Cu Signal Encoding
        3. 10GSFP+Cu Link Integrity Test
        4. 10GSFP+Cu Configuration Guidelines
      5. 10 Gigabit Ethernet Fiber Optic Media Systems
        1. 10 Gigabit LAN PHYs
      6. 10 Gb/s Fiber Optic Media Specifications
      7. 10 Gigabit WAN PHYs
    6. 12. 40 Gigabit Ethernet
      1. Architecture of 40 Gb/s Ethernet
        1. PCS Lanes
          1. PCS lane design and operation
          2. Multiple PCS lanes are not aggregated links
      2. 40 Gigabit Ethernet Twisted-Pair Media Systems (40GBASE-T)
      3. 40 Gigabit Ethernet Short Copper Cable Media Systems (40GBASE-CR4)
        1. 40GBASE-CR4 Signaling Components
        2. 40GBASE-CR4 Signal Encoding
      4. QSFP+ Connectors and Multiple 10 Gb/s Interfaces
      5. 40 Gigabit Ethernet Fiber Optic Media Systems
        1. 40 Gb/s Fiber Optic Media Specifications
          1. 40GBASE-SR4 media specifications
          2. 40GBASE-LR4 media specifications
          3. Vendor-specific short-range media specifications
          4. Vendor-specific bidirectional short-range optical transceivers
        2. 40GBASE-LR4 Wavelengths
        3. 40 Gigabit Extended Range
    7. 13. 100 Gigabit Ethernet
      1. Architecture of 100 Gb/s Ethernet
        1. PCS Lanes
          1. PCS lane design and operation
      2. 100 Gigabit Ethernet Twisted-Pair Media Systems
      3. 100 Gigabit Ethernet Short Copper Cable Media Systems (100GBASE-CR10)
        1. 100GBASE-CR10 Signal Encoding
      4. 100 Gigabit Ethernet Fiber Optic Media Systems
        1. Cisco CPAK Module for 100 Gigabit Ethernet
        2. 100 Gb/s Fiber Optic Media Specifications
          1. 100GBASE-SR10 short-reach media system specifications
          2. 100GBASE-LR4 long-reach media systems specifications
          3. 100GBASE-LR4 wavelengths
          4. 100GBASE-ER4 media specifications
    8. 14. 400 Gigabit Ethernet
      1. 400 Gb/s Ethernet Study Group
        1. 400 Gb/s Standardization
      2. Proposed 400 Gb/s Operation
  4. III. Building an Ethernet System
    1. 15. Structured Cabling
      1. Structured Cabling Systems
      2. The ANSI/TIA/EIA Cabling Standards
        1. Solving the Problems of Proprietary Cabling Systems
        2. ISO and TIA Standards
        3. The ANSI/TIA Structured Cabling Documents
        4. Elements of the Structured Cabling Standards
        5. Star Topology
      3. Twisted-Pair Categories
        1. Minimum Cabling Recommendation
        2. Ethernet and the Category System
      4. Horizontal Cabling
        1. Horizontal Channel and Basic Link
        2. Cabling and Component Specifications
        3. Category 5 and 5e Cable Testing and Mitigation
      5. Cable Administration
        1. Identifying Cables and Components
        2. Class 1 Labeling Scheme
        3. Documenting the Cabling System
      6. Building the Cabling System
        1. Cabling System Challenges
    2. 16. Twisted-Pair Cables and Connectors
      1. Horizontal Cable Segment Components
      2. Twisted-Pair Cables
        1. Twisted-Pair Cable Signal Crosstalk
        2. Twisted-Pair Cable Construction
          1. Plenum cable identifiers
          2. Shielded and unshielded twisted-pair cable
          3. Shielded twisted-pair naming conventions
        3. Twisted-Pair Installation Practices
      3. Eight-Position (RJ45-Style) Jack Connectors
      4. Four-Pair Wiring Schemes
        1. Tip and Ring
        2. Color Codes
        3. Wiring Sequence
      5. Modular Patch Panels
      6. Work Area Outlets
      7. Twisted-Pair Patch Cables
        1. Twisted-Pair Patch Cable Quality
        2. Telephone-Grade Patch Cables
        3. Twisted-Pair Ethernet and Telephone Signals
      8. Equipment Cables
        1. 50-Pin Connectors and 25-Pair Cables
        2. 25-Pair Cable Harmonica Connectors
      9. Building a Twisted-Pair Patch Cable
        1. Installing an RJ45 Plug
      10. Ethernet Signal Crossover
        1. 10BASE-T and 100BASE-T Crossover Cables
        2. Four-Pair Crossover Cables
        3. Auto-Negotiation and MDIX Failures
        4. Identifying a Crossover Cable
    3. 17. Fiber Optic Cables and Connectors
      1. Fiber Optic Cable
        1. Fiber Optic Core Diameters
        2. Fiber Optic Modes
        3. Fiber Optic Bandwidth
        4. Fiber Optic Loss Budget
          1. Estimating the static optical loss
      2. Fiber Optic Connectors
        1. ST Connectors
        2. SC Connectors
        3. LC Connectors
        4. MPO Connectors
      3. Building Fiber Optic Cables
        1. Fiber Optic Color Codes
      4. Signal Crossover in Fiber Optic Systems
        1. Signal Crossover in MPO Cables
  5. IV. Ethernet Switches and Network Design
    1. 18. Ethernet Switches
      1. Basic Switch Functions
        1. Bridges and Switches
        2. What Is a Switch?
      2. Operation of Ethernet Switches
        1. Address Learning
        2. Traffic Filtering
        3. Frame Flooding
        4. Broadcast and Multicast Traffic
          1. Broadcast and multicast forwarding
          2. Uses of broadcast and multicast
      3. Combining Switches
        1. Forwarding Loops
        2. The Spanning Tree Protocol
          1. Spanning tree packets
          2. Choosing a root bridge
          3. Choosing the least-cost path
          4. Blocking loop paths
          5. Spanning tree port states
      4. Switch Performance Issues
        1. Packet Forwarding Performance
        2. Switch Port Memory
        3. Switch CPU and RAM
        4. Switch Specifications
      5. Basic Switch Features
        1. Switch Management
          1. Simple Network Management Protocol
        2. Packet Mirror Ports
        3. Switch Traffic Filters
          1. Managing switch filters
        4. Virtual LANs
          1. 802.1Q VLAN standard
          2. Linking VLANs
        5. 802.1Q Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol
        6. Quality of Service (QoS)
    2. 19. Network Design with Ethernet Switches
      1. Advantages of Switches in Network Designs
        1. Improved Network Performance
        2. Switch Hierarchy and Uplink Speeds
        3. Uplink Speeds and Traffic Congestion
        4. Multiple Conversations
      2. Switch Traffic Bottlenecks
        1. Hierarchical Network Design
          1. Seven-hop maximum
      3. Network Resiliency with Switches
        1. Spanning Tree and Network Resiliency
          1. Cost and complexity of resiliency
      4. Routers
        1. Operation and Use of Routers
        2. Routers or Bridges?
      5. Special-Purpose Switches
        1. Multilayer Switches
        2. Access Switches
        3. Stacking Switches
        4. Industrial Ethernet Switches
        5. Wireless Access Point Switches
        6. Internet Service Provider Switches
        7. Metro Ethernet
        8. Data Center Switches
          1. Data center port speeds
          2. Data center switch types
          3. Data center oversubscription
          4. Data center switch fabrics
          5. Data center switch resiliency
      6. Advanced Switch Features
        1. Traffic Flow Monitoring
        2. sFlow and NetFlow
        3. Power over Ethernet
  6. V. Performance and Troubleshooting
    1. 20. Ethernet Performance
      1. Performance of an Ethernet Channel
        1. Performance of Half-Duplex Ethernet Channels
        2. Persistent Myths About Half-Duplex Ethernet Performance
        3. Simulations of Half-Duplex Ethernet Channel Performance
      2. Measuring Ethernet Performance
        1. Measurement Time Scale
        2. Data Throughput Versus Bandwidth
          1. Maximum data rates on Ethernet
          2. Network performance for the user
          3. Performance for the network manager
      3. Network Design for Best Performance
        1. Switches and Network Bandwidth
        2. Growth of Network Bandwidth
        3. Changes in Application Requirements
        4. Designing for the Future
    2. 21. Network Troubleshooting
      1. Reliable Network Design
      2. Network Documentation
        1. Equipment Manuals
        2. System Monitoring and Baselines
      3. The Troubleshooting Model
      4. Fault Detection
        1. Gathering Information
      5. Fault Isolation
        1. Determining the Network Path
        2. Duplicating the Symptom
        3. Binary Search Isolation
          1. Dividing network systems
      6. Troubleshooting Twisted-Pair Systems
        1. Twisted-Pair Troubleshooting Tools
        2. Common Twisted-Pair Problems
          1. Twisted-pair patch cables
          2. 50-pin connectors and hydra cables
          3. Twisted-pair segment cabling
      7. Troubleshooting Fiber Optic Systems
        1. Fiber Optic Troubleshooting Tools
        2. Common Fiber Optic Problems
      8. Data Link Troubleshooting
        1. Collecting Data Link Information
        2. Collecting Information with Probes
      9. Network-Layer Troubleshooting
  7. VI. Appendixes
    1. A. Resources
      1. Cable and Connector Suppliers
      2. Cable Testers
      3. Cabling Information
      4. Ethernet Jumbo Frames
      5. Ethernet Media Converters
      6. Ethernet OUIs or Vendor Codes
        1. List of OUIs Maintained by the IEEE
        2. List of OUIs Compiled by Volunteers
      7. Ethernet Bridging and the Spanning Tree Protocol
      8. Layer 2 Network Failure Modes
      9. Cisco Validated Design Guides
      10. Ethernet Switches
      11. Network Protocol Analyzers
      12. Network Management Information
      13. Requests for Comments (RFCs)
      14. Power over Ethernet
      15. Standards Documents and Standards Organizations
        1. OSI Model
        2. BICSI
        3. Fibre Channel Standards
        4. IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet) Standard
        5. IEEE 802.1 Bridge and Switch Standards
        6. Telecommunications Cabling Standards
        7. Other Standards Organizations
      16. Switch Performance
      17. Switch Latency
      18. Switch and Network Management
      19. Traffic Flow Monitoring
    2. B. Half-Duplex Operation with CSMA/CD
      1. Media Access Control Rules
      2. Essential Media System Timing
        1. Ethernet Slot Time
        2. Slot Time and Network Diameter
        3. Use of the Slot Time
        4. Slot Time and Minimum Frame Length
      3. Collision Detection and Backoff
        1. Collision Propaganda
        2. Operation of Collision Detection
          1. Collision detection by media systems
        3. Late Collisions
          1. Common causes of late collisions
        4. The Collision Backoff Algorithm
        5. Operation of the Backoff Algorithm
        6. Choosing a Backoff Time
      4. Collision Domains
      5. Ethernet Channel Capture
        1. Operation of Channel Capture
        2. Channel Capture Example
        3. Long-Term Fairness
        4. A Fix for Channel Capture?
      6. Gigabit Ethernet Half-Duplex Operation
        1. Gigabit Ethernet Half-Duplex Network Diameter
        2. Looking for Bit Times
        3. Carrier Extension
        4. Frame Bursting
          1. Frame bursting and shared-channel efficiency
    3. C. External Transceivers
      1. The Data Terminal Equipment
      2. The Attachment Unit Interface
        1. The AUI Slide Latch
          1. Problems with the sliding latch
        2. AUI Signals
      3. The AUI Transceiver Cable
      4. The Medium Attachment Unit
        1. Transceiver Jabber Protection
      5. The SQE Test Signal
        1. Operation of SQE Test
        2. Ethernet Stations and SQE Test
      6. The AUI Port Concentrator
        1. Port Concentrator Guidelines
          1. Calculating port concentrator cable length
        2. Problems with Concentrators
        3. Cascaded Port Concentrators
        4. SQE Test and the Port Concentrator
      7. The Medium Dependent Interface
      8. The Media Independent Interface
        1. The MII Connector
          1. MII connector signals
        2. MII Transceivers and Cables
          1. MII jabber protection
          2. MII SQE Test
    4. Glossary
  8. Index
  9. Colophon
  10. Copyright

Product information

  • Title: Ethernet: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition
  • Author(s): Charles E. Spurgeon, Joann Zimmerman
  • Release date: March 2014
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9781449363000