4 ms·
> How did Ethernet go from fat cables and vampire taps to RJ35? Layers. The physical signaling is vastly different but the content that rides on it can remain
by HankB99 3y ago
> How did Ethernet go from fat cables and vampire taps to RJ35?
Layers. The physical signaling is vastly different but the content that rides on it can remain the same. If you study the OSI model (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model) you will know more about it than me.
I don't know how faithfully modern (or ancient) Ethernet follows this model - it might predate this work. Some layers might be blended for the sake of efficiency, but there are definitely layers.
- rubatuga 3y agoThe layer with MAC addresses is the most successful part (layer 2)
- remram 3y agoHow do you measure "success"? Everywhere you are running L2, you are running L1, so it's just as common. L2 switching also requires the Spanning Tree Protocol, which is definitely not a well-liked part of the stack.
- gizmo686 3y agoThere are a lot of L1 layers that have been used under Ethernet. There were several revisions of the coaxial cable used for ethernet before we switched to the rj45 terminated twisted copper cable everyone thinks of when you say "ethernet". Again, there are several iterations for the twisted copper physical layer. More recently, we also run ethernet over optical fibers. The varience within the fiber family of cables is probably greater than the variance in either copper or coax. Ethernet has also been run over power cables.