Glossary
Technology evolves at a rapid-fire pace. That’s why we’ve built an easy-to-use glossary to help you better understand the terms, technologies and trends that impact your business.Ethernet
What is Ethernet?
Ethernet is a family of wired networking technologies used to transmit data between devices over copper or fiber connections. Standardized by IEEE 802.3, Ethernet defines how data is formatted, transmitted and received across a network.
Ethernet has evolved from early megabit-per-second speeds to 400G and 800G today, with 1.6T Ethernet now in development, and 3.2T to come quickly after. It is widely used in enterprise, telecommunications, cloud and data center networks.
Why is Ethernet important?
Ethernet provides a standardized, interoperable way to connect devices and transport data at increasingly higher speeds. As networks grow in capacity and complexity, Ethernet continues to evolve to support greater bandwidth, lower latency and higher network density.
Testing helps verify that Ethernet links and services meet performance requirements for throughput, latency, frame loss and other key metrics.