Gigabit Ethernet (802.3z) is an extension of the IEEE 802.3
standard. It runs over fiber-optic cabling and twisted-pair wiring.
It increases the data transmission rate to 1000 Mb/s. The frame
formats are identical to Ethernet and Fast Ethernet which allows
good interoperability across these technologies. Gigabit Ethernet
is suitable as a high-speed backbone interconnect but may be used
to connect high-performance workstations or systems that need the
increased bandwidth. Twisted-pair Gigabit controllers allow either
10, 100, or 1000 Mb/s operation for compatibility with existing
10 or 100 Mb/s networks.
Works with multimode fiber-optic
cabling. Used mainly for shorter backbone applications. It supports
distances of up to 550 meters.
1000Base-LX
Works with singlemode fiber-optic
cabling. Used mainly for longer fiber backbones and campus backbones.
It supports distances of up to 5Km.
1000BaseT
Works with unshielded copper cabling.
Used mainly for short distance applications. It supports a signal
transmission over four pairs of category 5 unshielded twisted pair (UTP),
covering distances up to 100 meters, or networks with a diameter
of 200 meters.
OpenVMS supports the DEGPA Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller
on Alpha PCI-based systems.
HP OpenVMS I/O User's Reference Manual
Local Area Network (LAN) Device Drivers
