Half-duplex Ethernet is defined in the original 802.3 Ethernet; Cisco says it uses only one wire pair with a digital signal running in both directions on the wire. Certainly, the IEEE specifications discuss the process of half duplex somewhat differently, but what Cisco is talking about is a general sense of what is happening here with Ethernet.
It also uses the CSMA/CD protocol to help prevent collisions and to permit retransmitting if a collision does occur. If a hub is attached to a switch, it must operate in half-duplex mode because the end stations must be able to detect collisions. Half-duplex Ethernet typically 10BaseT is only about 30 to 40 percent efficient as Cisco sees it, because a large 10BaseT network will usually only give you 3 to 4Mbps at most.
But full-duplex Ethernet uses two pairs of wires, instead of one wire pair like half duplex. And full duplex uses a point-to-point connection between the transmitter of the transmitting device and the receiver of the receiving device. This means that with full-duplex data transfer, you get a faster data transfer compared to half duplex. And because the transmitted data is sent on a different set of wires than the received data, no collisions will occur.
The reason you don’t need to worry about collisions is because now it’s like a freeway with multiple lanes instead of the single-lane road provided by half duplex.
Full-duplex Ethernet is supposed to offer 100 percent efficiency in both directions e.g., you can get 20Mbps with a 10Mbps Ethernet running full duplex, or 200Mbps for Fast Ethernet. But this rate is something known as an aggregate rate, which translates as You’re supposed to get 100 percent efficiency. No guarantees, in networking as in life.
Full-duplex Ethernet can be used in three situations:
- With a connection from a switch to a host
- With a connection from a switch to a switch
- With a connection from a host to a host using a crossover cable
Now, if it’s capable of all that speed, why wouldn’t it deliver? Well, when a full-duplex Ethernet port is powered on, it first connects to the remote end, and then negotiates with the other end of the Fast Ethernet link. This is called an auto-detect mechanism.
This mechanism first decides on the exchange capability, which means it checks to see if it can run at 10 or 100Mbps. It then checks to see if it can run full duplex, and if it can’t, it will run half duplex.
It also uses the CSMA/CD protocol to help prevent collisions and to permit retransmitting if a collision does occur. If a hub is attached to a switch, it must operate in half-duplex mode because the end stations must be able to detect collisions. Half-duplex Ethernet typically 10BaseT is only about 30 to 40 percent efficient as Cisco sees it, because a large 10BaseT network will usually only give you 3 to 4Mbps at most.
But full-duplex Ethernet uses two pairs of wires, instead of one wire pair like half duplex. And full duplex uses a point-to-point connection between the transmitter of the transmitting device and the receiver of the receiving device. This means that with full-duplex data transfer, you get a faster data transfer compared to half duplex. And because the transmitted data is sent on a different set of wires than the received data, no collisions will occur.
The reason you don’t need to worry about collisions is because now it’s like a freeway with multiple lanes instead of the single-lane road provided by half duplex.
Full-duplex Ethernet is supposed to offer 100 percent efficiency in both directions e.g., you can get 20Mbps with a 10Mbps Ethernet running full duplex, or 200Mbps for Fast Ethernet. But this rate is something known as an aggregate rate, which translates as You’re supposed to get 100 percent efficiency. No guarantees, in networking as in life.
Full-duplex Ethernet can be used in three situations:
- With a connection from a switch to a host
- With a connection from a switch to a switch
- With a connection from a host to a host using a crossover cable
Now, if it’s capable of all that speed, why wouldn’t it deliver? Well, when a full-duplex Ethernet port is powered on, it first connects to the remote end, and then negotiates with the other end of the Fast Ethernet link. This is called an auto-detect mechanism.
This mechanism first decides on the exchange capability, which means it checks to see if it can run at 10 or 100Mbps. It then checks to see if it can run full duplex, and if it can’t, it will run half duplex.
