Ethernet

Ethernet is a widely used technology for connecting devices in a local area network (LAN). It was developed in the 1970s by Xerox Corporation's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and later standardized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Ethernet uses a bus or star topology and supports data transfer rates of 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, 10 Gbps, 40 Gbps, and 100 Gbps. It operates on the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model and uses a variety of protocols, including the most common one, TCP/IP. Ethernet has evolved over the years to include features such as Quality of Service (QoS), Power over Ethernet (PoE), and Virtual LANs (VLANs). It is widely used in homes, businesses, and data centers for connecting computers, printers, servers, switches, routers, and other network devices.