The Fast Ethernet is a high-speed local area network (LAN) conforming to IEEE Standard 802.3u that promises many advantages over earlier Ethernet technology. The foremost is that Fast Ethernet can operate at speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps), fully ten times the potential bandwidth of the 10 Mbps Ethernet technology that became common in the 1980s. The higher bandwidth can more closely meet the demands of today’s multilevel LAN infrastructure, simultaneously providing high-speed connectivity to desktop users, high-bandwidth functionality as a network backbone, and high-speed, high-capacity linkage to contemporary superservers that use the latest processor technology.

This book boldly promises

an extensive blueprint for understanding and implementing Fast Ethernet--quickly, efficiently, and reliably…this comprehensive guide gives the hands-on advice you need to quickly and efficiently migrate to a low-cost, reliable, high-speed networking environment and to optimize performance…several illustrated examples depict solid strategies for integrating Fast Ethernet technology into your network without incurring lengthy downtime or compromising system capability.

To a great measure, the book achieves this ambitious goal. It is organized into two sections: “How Fast Ethernet Works” and “How to Set Up a Fast Ethernet LAN.” Each section consists of seven chapters, and each does what it sets out to do.

The first section describes the basics of Fast Ethernet technology and the IEEE 802.3u protocol known as Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD). It also provides a pragmatic and easy-to-follow discussion of the components of a Fast Ethernet LAN, including nodes, network interfaces and their drivers, Class I and Class II repeaters, frames, frame switches, and media access controllers. Interwoven throughout these discussions are detailed operational considerations for the CSMA/CD protocol and design alternatives for the hardware and software interfaces necessary for CSMA/CD implementation. An excellent illustration of the text’s orientation to LAN designers is chapter 6, “The Fast Part of Fast Ethernet: Network Performance,” in which optimal network throughput, utilization, and management are concisely and literately presented in a simple how-to fashion.

The second section addresses the basics of Fast Ethernet LAN design and system implementation, covering not only the design fundamentals for achieving maximum throughput, but the interrelated issues of cost, reliability, and robustness. The chapters cover aspects of network requirements determination; cable plant design; and the selection of adapter cards, LAN switches, repeaters, and routers. Interwoven among all of these network designer–oriented, implementation-level discussions are considerations related to installing new LAN components, how best to integrate Fast Ethernet equipment with existing LANs, and recommended network management approaches and practices.

Six appendices provide a wealth of useful information, including a comparison between older Ethernets and Fast Ethernet, Fast Ethernet topology rules, recommended network performance benchmarking tests, and a summary of specifications for Fast Ethernet media and twisted-pair  cables. 

LAN technology is advancing rapidly, and the half-lives of many of the technologies and network processes presented in this book may be measured in months. Newer technologies, such as Gigabit Ethernet, are just around the corner. The publisher attempts to address this issue by maintaining a Web site that presents new Fast Ethernet technology developments, late-breaking news, and pointers to other relevant Web sites. Nevertheless, I highly recommend the book for practicing Ethernet designers, implementers, operators, and network performance analysts, and to those with aspirations to these pursuits. Since there are few technical references, no exercises, and little historical development or theoretical motivation for the subject matter, it does not seem particularly suitable as a textbook for students of communications systems engineering.