Instructor Note
The purpose of this target indicator is to justify the choice of Ethernet 10Base-T as the cabling technology chosen by the networking academies. As previously mentioned, 10Base-T terminations with RJ-45 jacks can be used for 100Base-TX (Fast Ethernet) and 1000Base-T (Gigabit Ethernet) -- hence this skill has a migration path. Also, the installed base of 10Base-T is huge; its popularity is still growing. This is not to diminish the importance of learning other cable terminations, especially optical fiber, but we had to choose one and that one is 10Base-T.
In this curriculum you will be introduced to three LAN technologies: Ethernet, Token Ring, and FDDI. All three have a wide variety of Layer 1 components and devices. The focus of this chapter will be Ethernet 10BaseT technologies. When it was developed, Ethernet was designed to fill the middle ground between long distance, low-speed networks, and specialized computer room networks that carried data at high speeds for very limited distances. Ethernet is well-suited to applications in which a local communication medium must carry sporadic, occasionally heavy, traffic at high-peak data rates.
