On 07/11/11 10:17 AM, Lamar Owen wrote:
On Sunday, July 10, 2011 07:05:16 AM Giles Coochey wrote:
I guess what I was trying to say is that for fiber connections duplex has no meaning, was there ever a fiber 'hub' where multiple point to point connections 'shared' a medium? (in a virtual sense)
You can make/get passive fiber hubs that act like old thinnet. They aren't common, and I don't recall if any GigE ones exist.
You can actually make these if you have a fusion splicer with enough manual controllability.
So, yes, you can have a true CSMA/CD fiber hub, where the hub is a totally passive fiber device.
it was my understanding that 'hubs' were only supported on 10baseT and 100baseT ethernets, and of course, have to be half duplex, and all devices have to be the same speed. the so-called dual speed 10/100 hubs were really a 10baseT hub and a 100baseT hub with a switch between them (and were really really awful). GigE mandates switching and full duplex. Anyone using fiber for 10 or 100baseF is stuck in the last century.