![]() |
![]() |
1.1 | LAN
Switching |
![]() |
1.1.1 | Congestion and bandwidth |
Technology advances are producing
faster and more intelligent desktop computers and workstations. The
combination of more powerful computers/workstations and network
intensive applications have created a need for network capacity or
bandwidth that is much greater than the 10 Mbps that is available on
standard shared Ethernet/802.3 LANs.
Today's networks are experiencing an
increase in the transmission of large graphic files, images,
full-motion video and multimedia applications as well as an increase
in the number of users on a network. All of these factors place an
even greater strain on standard Ethernet 10Mbps bandwidth capacity. As more people utilize a network to
share large files, access file servers and connect to the Internet,
network congestion occurs. This can be seen in slower response times,
longer file transfers and network users becoming less productive due
to network delays. To relieve network congestion, more bandwidth is
needed or the available bandwidth must be used more efficiently.
|