Most of my little network uses old 10BaseT network cards however I recently purchased a 10/100 hub and notice that the latest network cards I have ordered are also rated 10/100. I was therefore wondering a few things:
Firstly, are 10MHz and 100MHz (on a 10/100 NIC) two discrete speeds or could the NIC/hub pair negotiate an intermediate speed if that is all my dodgey D.I.Y network cabling can handle? (i.e. is it possible for a 10/100 link to run at say 50MHz?) If so then is this intermediate speed negotiated only when the link is first made or will it dynamically drift higher and lower from minute to minute?
Secondly, to satisfy my curiosity, I was wondering if anyone could recommend any little Linux programs which I can run in the background to dynamically monitor the speed at which my PC's network card is actually running.
Thirdly I notice a couple of the latest NIC's I have ordered (3Com905CX-TX-M) are "managed" and "offer complete PC management". This has captured my imagination as I had always considered network cards to be pretty dumb, boring things. Could anyone guide me to something which could give me a crash course in remote NIC/Hub interrogation as (to me at least)(and yes, I know I need to meet more people and get a life!) this sounds quite an interesting and exciting concept.
Finally, does using "managed" network cards within a network mean that my network's security is about to become non-existent? (i.e. if a hacker managed to gain access to my network but couldn't hack into my PC could he, for example, in frustration, remotely configure all my "managed" NIC's to do silly things making my network unusable?)
Ian.
Most of my little network uses old 10BaseT network cards however I
recently
purchased a 10/100 hub and notice that the latest network cards I have ordered are also rated 10/100. I was therefore wondering a few things:
Firstly, are 10MHz and 100MHz (on a 10/100 NIC) two discrete speeds or
could
the NIC/hub pair negotiate an intermediate speed if that is all my dodgey D.I.Y network cabling can handle? (i.e. is it possible for a 10/100 link
to
run at say 50MHz?) If so then is this intermediate speed negotiated only when the link is first made or will it dynamically drift higher and lower from minute to minute?
The 10/100 refers to Megabits per second not Megahertz. e.g. 10 Mbps/100 Mbps. Those network cards will operate at those two speeds only. As far as I know the network cards will talk to each other as quickly as possible. For example if you have two 10/100 Mbps NICs talking to each other, then they will do so at 100Mbps (taking into account the hub, but as you have a 10/100 hub then the example applies). If you have a 10Mbps NIC and and 10/100Mbps NIC talking to each other, then they will do so at the lower speed of 10Mbps as that is the maximum speed for the 10Mbps NIC.
I'm no Network expert though :), so I will leave the other questions to someone on the list who is more qualified.
Regards,
Mat
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Ian Douglas -
Mat B