In this brief article, you'll learn the basics of how Ethernet works in modern computer networks and cabling options for your network.

Copyright (c) 2008 Don R. Crawley

Ethernet was developed at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) by Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs with Chuck Thacker and Butler Lampson in the early 1970s. Xerox filed a patent application for Ethernet in 1975. Today, Ethernet is based on IEEE standard 802.3 (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers). Metcalfe left Xerox in 1979 and founded 3Com to promote local area networks and personal computers. He persuaded Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and Intel to work together with Xerox to promote the DIX (Digital/Intel/Xerox) Ethernet standard. Ethernet is named for the invisible, massless substance that 19th century scientists believed filled the universe. Ethernet was originally based on the same rules as those for polite conversation. Each computer wanting to transmit data waits until there's a lu