Ethernet: The Definitive Guide

Charles Spurgeon is a senior technology architect at the University of Texas at Austin, where he works on a campus network system serving over 70,000 users in 200 buildings on two campuses. He has developed and managed large campus networks for many years, beginning at Stanford University, where he worked with a group that built the prototype Ethernet routers that became the founding technology for Cisco Systems. Charles, who attended Wesleyan University, lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Joann Zimmerman, and their cat Mona. Joann Zimmerman is a former software engineer with a doctorate in art history from the University of Texas at Austin. She has written and documented compilers, software tools and network monitoring software, and been a creator of the build and configuration management process for several companies. The author of papers in software engineering and Renaissance art history, she currently she has multiple fantasy novels in process.

Q&A with Charles E. Spurgeon, co-author of "Ethernet: The Definitive Guide," 3rd Edition"Q. Why is your book important right now? A. Ethernet is changing, with improvements to existing standards and with the development of new standards for higher speeds, Energy Efficient Ethernet, increasing power over Ethernet, and more. Ethernet, The Definitive Guide 2nd edition has been entirely updated with the changes to existing standards and includes new material covering the very latest in Ethernet technology. Q. What do you hope your readers walk away with? A. This thoroughly revised, comprehensive guide covers a wide range of Ethernet technologies, making it possible for the reader to quickly find what they need. The emphasis is on providing the information that the reader needs to build and manage Ethernet networks ranging in size from a small office system to a large enterprise network for a multi-building campus. The book is designed to provide tutorials on a wide range of topics, including fiber optic and twisted-pair cabling systems and network troubleshooting. Q. What s the most exciting or important thing happening in your space? A. Ethernet's ability to continue innovating is remarkable, as seen with the latest work on the 400 Gigabit per second variety of Ethernet. Ethernet is one of the few computer technologies that has managed to continue growing and evolving over several decades. Ethernet's long history was commemorated by the 40th "birthday" of Ethernet in May, 2013, celebrating the publication of the original Ethernet design memo in 1973. Q. Can you tell us a little more? A. Did you know that Ethernet interfaces are now "green?" The Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) standard, approved in late 2010, is now incorporated into most twisted-pair Ethernet interfaces. This allows the interface to automatically configure EEE to save small amounts of power when no data is being sent. And that, in turn, can save much larger amounts of power when the savings