what is gigabit ethernet

Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) is a computer networking technology that provides a data rate of 1 billion bits per second, or 1 gigabit (Gb) per second. It is defined in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 standard and is currently being used as the backbone in many enterprise networks. Gigabit Ethernet connects computers and servers in local networks and is carried on optical fiber or copper wire. The most popular variant of Gigabit Ethernet is 1000BASE-T, which is defined by the IEEE 802.3ab standard and became a desktop technology in 1999. Gigabit Ethernet has replaced Fast Ethernet in wired local networks due to its considerable speed improvement over Fast Ethernet, as well as its use of cables and equipment that are widely available, economical, and similar to previous standards. Gigabit Ethernet networks can function as half-duplex networks for shared media or as Ethernet switches with a switched full-duplex network. Gigabit Ethernet is about ten times faster than Fast Ethernet, which is the computing networking term for a LAN transmission standard that provides a data transfer rate of 100 megabits per second.