Ethernet and ATM: Which Will Prevail?
Abstract
Sending data through the internet efficiently has always posed many problems. The two major technologies used, Ethernet and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), have done an admirable job of porting data, voice and video from one point to another. However, they both fall short in differing areas; neither has been able to present the "complete" package to become the single, dominant player in the internet market. They both have dominant areas they cover. Ethernet has dominated the LAN side, while ATM covers the WAN (backbone). This paper will compare the two technologies and determine which has a hand-up in the data trafficking world.
Network Technology Overview
The Ethernet has been around for several decades and is a mature data transfer mechanism based on packets and internet protocol (IP). Its main focus has always been the LANs and transfer of data. ATM is a recent technology that many thought would replace Ethernet as the technology of choice. It can transfer data, voice and video at a much higher rate of speed than Ethernet. So why hasn't ATM replaced Ethernet? In a world where everyone wants everything faster and more efficient, ATM should be the hands-down choice for a networking service. However, it's not as simple as that. Reviewing the advantages and disadvantages of each should be very revealing as to who has the upper hand in network technologies.
ATM Characteristics
ATM is geared toward high speed voice and video transmission, much like a telephone network. It uses a cell-switching and multiplexing technology. The data (this refers to data, voice and video) is transferred between two points on a dedicated circuit in 53 byte cells. Each cell is the exact same size, no matter what data is being sent. The cells consist of 5 bits of header information and 48 bits of actual data. Using a smaller, consistent cell size means there's less delay between when each cell processes at the other end. Using dedicated circuits via virtual circuits ensures there is no interruption in the data transfer. This is extremely important to voice and video transmissions, because they are highly intolerant to data delays. This improves the Quality of Service (QoS) and speed of transfer, which can be between 25 Mbps to 622 Mbps.
On the downside of ATM is the cost.
... access to what and in which sequence. The router connects the LAN to other networks, which could be the Internet or another corporate network so that the LAN can exchange information with networks external to it. The most common LAN operating systems are Windows, Linux, and Novell. Each of these network operating systems supports TCP/IP as their default networking protocol. Ethernet is the dominant LAN standard at the physical network level, specifying the physical medium to carry signals between computers, access control rules, and a standardized set of bits used to carry data over the system. Originally, Ethernet supported a data transfer rate of 10 megabits per second (Mbps). Newer versions, such as Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet, support data transfer rates of 100 Mbps and 1 gigabits per second (Gbps), respectively, and are used in network backbones.
...erence to certain type of packets over others. So, voice packets can be given higher priority over normal data packets.
Then going back to the main server which is connected to ATMC by a fiberglass cable that is capable of sending and receiving up to 100 GB of information per second. Then ATMC reaches to other servers that companies have like Google, Bing, YouTube and much more. Those websites are hosted on the company’s server’s. Then from there it takes this path, from the company’s servers, to ATMC servers, then to the school’s main server, to the sub-servers, then to the router. From there it depends if you are using a wireless connection or a wired connection.
Ethernet Latency can be defined as the time it takes for a network packet to get to a destination or the time it takes to come back from its destination. It also impacts the time an application must wait for data to arrive at its destination [1]. This is as important as download speed because a network with high latency (a slow network) will take a longer time to pass information about and this can have a negative effect as web pages will take longer to load as each request for the next picture, script or text has a significant delay in between [2]. Latency in a packet-switched network is stated as either one-way latency or Round-Trip Time (RTT). One-way latency is the time required to send a packet from the source to the destination or the RTT divided by two (RTT/2) which means the one-way latency from the source to the destination plus the one-way latency from the destination back to the source divided by two (RTT/2) [1]. Latency also refers to any of several kinds of delays typically incurred in processing of network data. Systems with low latency do not only need to be able to get a message from A to B as quickly as possible but also to be able to do this for millions of messages per second.
Many years’ people have been trying to figure out who actually invented the ATM ideas or machines. There are six developers’ that are being tossed around by past researchers who were the originators of this exciting technology. The six developer’s names are as follows: Luther George Simjian, John Shepherd-Barron, James Goodfellow, Don Wetzel, John D. White and Jairus Larson. Luther George Simjian was famous for the early development of ATM science in the 1930’s.
ATM uses asynchronous time-division multiplexing to encode and transfer data in the form of cells or packets of a fixed size. It is normally used by Internet service providers on their private long-distance networks. It operates at the data link layer (Layer 2 in the OSI model) over either fiber or twisted-pair cable. It uses a connection-oriented model in which a virtual circuit must be established between two endpoints before the actual data exchange occurs. These virtual circuits may be dedicated connections that are usually preconfigured by the service provider, or “switched”, i.e. set up on a per-call basis using signaling and disconnected when the call is terminated.
Server-based networks are higher in cost because money is invested for dedicated servers, network operating software, and network administrators with technical expertise required for network management and configuration. On a small network consisting of fewer than five workstations, client/server architecture is not recommended and is very costly.
In the past few years the use of mobile phones has increased tremendously. At one time only available to the rich and elite business executives, the luxury of mobile phones can now be used by a wide group of people in different financial situations. Mobile phones are a necessary convenience. They provide instant communication access wherever mobile phone service is offered. There are two options for mobile phone service: analog, and digital PCS. Analog is the more expensive option and has long been the standard for mobile phone service. Digital PCS is the newest form of phone service. It works by converting human speech into software codes and converting them to audio signals before the codes reach the listener. Because it is software based it provides a perfect platform for a variety of advanced wireless features. Digital PCS is the future of mobile phone service and the soon to be de facto standard for wireless phone service.
TCP/IP is a network model which enables the communication across the Internet. The most fundamental protocol on which the Internet is built. This is made up of the 2 common networking protocols, TCP, for Transmission Control Protocol, and IP, for Internet Protocol. TCP maintains and handles packet flow linking the systems and IP protocol has the ability to handle the routing of packets. However The TCP/IP stack consists of 5 layers first being application layer, the transport layer, then the network layer, the link layer and finally the physical layer. The assignment focuses on the three middle layers and is divided into five parts. Firstly explaining how the TCP and UDP the most vital protocols needed to deliver and communicate.
Over the last couple of years Network connection methods have been growing better and better so that the internet is easier to access and much more convenient. About 10 years ago it would have been hard to play games on the computer because of the speed of the connection and signals were received slower, But now days you don’t have to wait for a video to load or to receive a message from across the world. Below I have listed three different types of connections and explained their how they work.
Increased competition in the banking sector and customer demand is forcing banks to provide their services online (Southard, P. & Siau, K, 2004). Banks try to gain competitive advantages in technological atmosphere by adopting new technological developments in their area as soon as possible (Ozcan, 2007; Chang 2002). Information technology developments in the banking sector have speed up communication and transactions for clients. It is vital to extend this banking feature to clients for maximizing the advantages for both clients and service providers (Safeena, Abdullah and Hema, 2010, 2011; Qureshi et al, 2008).
One of the latest advancements in wireless data. It is used in GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) for transferring data in packets.
This report will describe the two forms of data communications in terms of the physical interfaces and modes of operation. It will describe the features of data communications equipment in relation to synchronous and asynchronous communication including modems, network terminating units and sending and receiving equipment.
Only five years after Barran proposed his version of a computer network, ARPANET went online. Named after its federal sponsor, ARPANET initially linked four high-speed supercomputers and was intended to allow scientists and researchers to share computing facilities by long-distance. By 1971, ARPANET had grown to fifteen nodes, and by 1972, thirty-seven. ARPA’s original standard for communication was known as “Network Control Protocol” or NCP. As time passed, however, NCP grew obsolete and was replaced by a new, higher-level standard known as TCP-IP, which is still in use today.
In this day and age, networks are everywhere. The internet has also revolutionized around world. We tend to take for grantedthat computers should be connected together. When it comes to networking, it's hard to believe that the field is still a relatively young one, especially when it comes to hooking up small computers like PCs. In approaching any discussion of networking, it is very useful to take a step back and look at networking from a high level. What is it, exactly, and why is it now considered? So, it important that it is assumed that most PCs and other devices should be networked. Computer network is the best way to take advantage of more than one computer resources by sharing these resources , such as storage space ,