The categories of cabling de?¬?ned for Ethernet
are derived from the EIA/TIA-568 (SP-2840) Commercial Building Telecommunications
Wiring Standards. EIA/TIA speci?¬?es an RJ-45 connector for unshielded twisted-pair
(UTP) cable.
The important difference to note is the media used for 10-Mbps Ethernet versus 100-Mbps
Ethernet. In networks today, where you see a mix of 10- and 100-Mbps requirements, you
must be aware of the need to change over to UTP Category 5 to support Fast Ethernet.
Connection Media
Several types of connection media can be used in an Ethernet LAN implementation.
Figure 1-99 shows typical connection types.
The most common type of connection media is the RJ-45 connector and jack illustrated in
Figure 1-99. The letters ???RJ??? stands for registered jack, and the number ???45??? refers to a
speci?¬?c physical connector that has 8 conductors.
A Gigabit Interface Converter (GBIC), shown in Figure 1-100, is a hot-swappable I/O
device that plugs into a Gigabit Ethernet port. A key bene?¬?t of using a GBIC is that it is
interchangeable, allowing you the ?¬‚exibility to deploy other 1000BASE-X technology
Connecting to an Ethernet LAN 117
without having to change the physical interface or model on the router or switch.
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