We always talk about Gigabit Ehternet and Fast Ethernet when we discuss the Cisco Network devices.
However, what are the differences between these two Ethernet?
Look at this figure, we can find the history of the Ethernet.
In the early 1970s, Ethernet was the result of the research done at Xerox PARC. Ethernet later evolved into a widely implemented physical and link layer protocol. In 1995, Fast Ethernet increased speed from 10 to 100 megabits per second (Mbit/s). Gigabit Ethernet was the next iteration, increasing the speed to 1000 Mbit/s, introduced in 1999 and be used widely since 2010.
After known the history, we are going to talk about GE and FE, including their concepts, features, and cables.
1. Fast Ethernet
In computer networking, Fast Ethernet is a collective term for a number of Ethernet standards that carry traffic at the nominal rate of 100 Mbit/s, as the IEEE 802.3u standard.
·a term of Ethernet in computing networking, stands for carrying on the traffic at the rate of 100 Mbit per second.
·Runs on UTP data or optical fiber cable in a star wired bus topology, similar to 10BASE-T where all cables are attached to a hub.
·A Fast Ethernet adapter can be logically divided into a media access controller (MAC), which deals with the higher-level issues of medium availability, and a Physical Layer Interface (PHY).
2. Gigabit Ethernet
In computer networking, Gigabit Ethernet (GbE or 1 GigE) is a term describing various technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second (1,000,000,000 bits per second), as defined by the IEEE 802.3-2008 standard.
· A term of Ethernet in computing network, for carrying on the traffic at the rate of 1000 Mbit per second.
· Gigabit Ethernet maximum network limit is 70 km if Single Mode Fiber (1,310 nm wavelength) is used as a medium.
· Gigabit Ethernet was introduced with the support of based standard of IEEE 802.3-2008.
|1000BASE‑CX||Shielded balanced copper cable||25 meters|
|1000BASE‑KX||Copper backplane||1 meter|
|1000BASE‑SX||Multi-mode fiber using 770 to 860 nm wavelength||FDDI (62.5 µm, 160 MHz·km): 220 m
OM1 (62.5 µm, 200 MHz·km): 275 m
OM2 (50 µm, 500 MHz·km): 550 m
|1000BASE‑LX||Multi-mode fiber using 1,270 to 1,355 nm wavelength||550 meters|
|1000BASE‑LX||Single-mode fiber using 1,270 to 1,355 nm wavelength||5 km|
|1000BASE‑LX10||Single-mode fiber using 1,260 to 1,360 nm wavelength||10 km|
|1000BASE‑EX||Single-mode fiber at 1,310 nm wavelength||~ 40 km|
|1000BASE‑ZX||Single-mode fiber at 1,550 nm wavelength||~ 70 km|
|1000BASE‑BX10||Single-mode fiber, single-strand: 1,480 to 1,500 nm downstream, 1,260 to 1,360 nm upstream||10 km|
|1000BASE‑T||Twisted-pair cabling (Cat-5, Cat-5e, Cat-6, Cat‑7)||100 meters|
|1000BASE-T1||single, balanced twisted pair cable||15 meters|
|1000BASE‑TX||Twisted-pair cabling (Cat-6, Cat‑7)||100 meters|
3. Key Differences
We know that Ethernet is a system of LAN used to connect the multiple systems to develop a LAN (Local Area Network). Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet, both are used to accomplish this purpose. There are some differences arises on the matter of coverage, speed and configuration.
|Differences||Fast Ethernet||Gigabit Ethernet|
Easy and cost effective
Complex and expensive
Connected devices configure automatically with the system.
Devices used in GE must have same configuration to function fully.
Every Network is ok.
Specific network is required
10 km with 100BASE-LX10 version
70 km with Single Mode Fiber (1,310 nm wavelength)
Optical fiber cable
Unshielded twisted pair cable
1000BASE-T twisted pair cable,
1000BASE-X optical fiber
1000BASE-CX shielded balanced copper cable
802.3u-1995, 802.3u-1995 and 802.3u-1995
4. Cisco Ethernet Switches
Cisco Ethernet Switches are broadly categorized into two main categories – Modular and Fixed Configuration.
Modular switches, allows you to add expansion modules into the switches as needed. Cisco Catalyst 4K and 6K belong to Modular switches.
Fixed Configuration switches are switches with a fixed number of ports and are typically not expandable. Cisco Catalyst 2K, 3K and the Cisco 300/500 series are good examples of Fixed Configuration switches.
We can find Fixed Configuration switches in Fast Ethernet (10/100 Mbps), Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000 Mbps), Ten Gigabit (10/100/1000/10000 Mbps) and even some 40/100 Gbps speeds. These switches have a number of uplink ports and a number of downlink ports. Downlinks connect to end users – uplinks connect to other Switches or to the network infrastructure.
Currently, Gigabit is the most popular interface speed though Fast Ethernet is still widely used, especially in price-sensitive environments. Ten Gigabit has been growing rapidly, especially in the datacenter and, as the cost comes down, it will continue to expand into more network applications. With 10GBase-T Ten Gigabit copper interfaces being integrated into LOM (LAN on the Motherboard) and 10G-Base-T switches becoming available now, building a Storage or Server farm with 10 Gigabit interfaces has never been easier or more cost-effective. 40G/100G is still emerging and will be mainstream in a few years.
No matter FE or GE, they both play important roles in the network nowadays. We can choose which to use according to our network need.