Very good discussion thread going on here!!!
Like most everyone else here, I was introduced to the concepts of Bandwidth as an Analog wave format [mine was in Radio, then light, then Telephone, then Audio {sound waves}], way before I was introduced into pure Digital transmission.
I could really start the thread burning by throwing in the Carrier Waves for the transmission!
In the FDDI, we have bands of Infrared or Ultraviolet light, in which the Binary Code is carried and constructed of. These Carriers have bandwidths, so do the pulses themselves.
In normal UTP, or Coaxial LAN cables, the Electricity has bandwidth [let's even look into the multivibrator / clock circuits and the light created from currents flowing through the Semiconductors or even the cables].
This stuff would make for some really in-depth discussions [fun for me!!!]
To answer Frank's latest question;
Yes, in general the Bandwidth between the two items you listed are large!
Fiber Optic LAN Backbones would be in the GHz range [Giga Hertz, or 1,000,000,000 Hz] and could carry many packets on multiple channels within the same Fiber.
UTP LAN cabling would be in several speeds:
* For 10 base T - Tolken Ring [IEEE 802.5], the speeds are either 4 MBPS or 16 MBPS. The slower can accept CAT 3 UTP cable, the later uses CAT 5 UTP cable.
Tolken Ring is a Multi Tolken, limited packet network topology, which can use either Star or Daisy Chain connection schemes between Workstations and a MAU [similar to a Hub]. Between MAUs and Servers, there are in/out "Rings"
* For 10 base Ethernet systems [IEEE 802.3], "Thicknet" was 10 base 5, "Thinnet" was 10 base 2, and of course 10 base T uses Twisted Pairs. 10 base T is most recently of CAT 3 UTP - which is IEEE tested for the maximum speed of 10 MBPS.
10 base [typical Ethernet] is a single tolken - single packet tpoplogy in the basic forms. In the "Full Duplex" modes, there can be multiple packet exchanges [which increases the bandwidth by 2x].
* 100 Base T [or TX]:
Typical to the 10 base system, except has a transfer speed of 100 MBPS, and requires cabling with that rating.
CAT 5 UTP and CAT 5E UTP are usable with 100 Base TX Ethernet LANS.
Typical "10 base" systems only use two of the four pairs in the cable.
Others are Catagory 6 [coax], and Catagory 7 [Fiber]. also there's a few 10 base fiber links, such as 10 base F [the ethernet fiber LAN standard], 10 base FB, FL and FP.
If this is an interesting area, maybe we can collect and complie a cache of LAN Tech information to post in the Reference section.
Let me know if this sounds like an idea - plus if you wish to contribute.
Scott SET
