spurgeon@ut-emx.UUCP (Charles E. Spurgeon) (04/12/90)
In article <3672@suned1.Navy.MIL> efb@suned1.Nswses.Navy.MIL (Everett F Batey II) writes: >I am told there is a doc called the ethernet green book .. defines >sizes, pieces, repeaters, times etc. for proper combining of the >components of an ethernet. Can someone direct me to an anon-ftp >equivalent of the care-and-feeding for a properly grown ethernet. > The green book is the old (1985) IEEE 802.3/Ethernet standard. It has been replaced by the newer (1989)ISO 8802-3 standard. There's no ftp access to these formal specification documents that I'm aware of. Also, while the numbers are all there, the formal specs won't help you much when it comes to tutorial information about the Ethernet system. Included below is a section of an annotated reading list I've created for the use of network managers who need access information on just these sorts of issues. The fragment of the list below contains access information for the Ethernet standards, and several other items of interest. I'd post the whole reading list, but the text version is about 65K chars, which seems a bit large for posting to a wide distribution list such as this. The PostScript version is, of course, quite a bit larger. I don't have the resources locally to make the reading list available via anonymous ftp or mail based archive server. If anyone wants to volunteer some disk space and cycles to help distribute this, I'd be happy to send them the whole shebang. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Network Manager's Reading List: TCP/IP, UNIX, and Ethernet Charles Spurgeon UTnet Network Information Center Document Version 2.5 April, 1990 Copyright (c) 1990. Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commer- cial advantage. Copies must show the University of Texas at Austin as the source, and include this notice. Introduction This is an annotated list of books and other resources of use to network managers who are using TCP/IP, UNIX, and Ethernet technologies.[1] These three technologies share the same major attribute: network managers can use them to build interoperable network systems across a wide range of vendor equipment. This list is intended for campus network managers at the University of Texas at Austin, or anywhere that TCP/IP, UNIX, and Ethernet are used to provide computer communications. Each item in the list is annotated, and many items have introductory material quoted to help indicate their scope and organization. Access information is given for each item, and prices are included when available. The prices listed here are culled from a variety of sources and should be used only as a rough guide. Comments, corrections, etc. are welcome and may be sent to utnet@emx.utexas.edu. [1]UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T, Ethernet is a trademark of Xerox Inc. [TCP/IP and UNIX sections deleted] Section 3 Ethernet Ethernet is the de facto LAN technology on most cam- puses and many other sites. The major advantage that Ethernet brings to the network manager is the same advantage shared by all three technologies listed here: interoperability. Ethernet is in common use because it has been widely implemented in many different computer systems. This allows the network manager to link sys- tems built by many different vendors using the same Ethernet LAN. Since Ethernet is also an international LAN standard, there's a huge number of vendors selling Ethernet equipment. That helps keep the costs down, and has led to a steady stream of innovations which have made it easier to build departmental LANs using standard Ether- net. 3. Introduction to LANs These books introduce the general field of local area networks. The book by John McNamara covers the basic concepts of LANs. The second book, by Thomas Madron, contains a more detailed introduction, with a survey of IEEE Project 802 LAN standards that includes IEEE 802.3/Ethernet. o Local Area Networks John E. McNamara. Published by Digital Press, 1985, 165 pps. with index and glossary. $29.00 (quoted from DEC Direct). ISBN 0-932376-79-7. Digital Press part number for ordering is EY- 00051-DP. Digital Press phone is 800-343-8321. This is a general introduction to the concepts and basic technologies of LANs. McNamara keeps it simple, while still managing to cover a lot of different tech- nologies. The special problems of extending local area networks and supporting campus area networks are dis- cussed as well. From the Preface: "This book is intended for students, computer system managers, telecommunications managers, and others who want to become more familiar with local area networks. Since product offerings in this area are constantly changing, a deliberate attempt has been made to Network Reading List Page 18 emphasize the general principles, operating charac- teristics, and problem areas of local area network hardware, rather than cite specific product examples." o LANs, Applications of IEEE/ANSI 802 Standards Thomas W. Madron. John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY., 1989, 308 pps. with index and glossary. $34.95. ISBN 0-471-62049-1. An introduction to LANs from the point of view of the evolving network standards. This book is useful for the outlook it presents on the world of network stan- dards, and how they interrelate. The various standards agencies are described, the OSI model is explained, and then the IEEE 802 series of standards for LANs, includ- ing 802.3/Ethernet, are introduced in detail. Finally, the basics of TCP/IP operation and the function of LANs in the delivery of TCP/IP services are described. From the Preface: "The object of this book is to provide a reasonably detailed overview of contemporary LAN standards, espe- cially those developed through the auspices of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). To be meaningful, however, the discussion of the IEEE standards is placed in the context of the development of standards generally, then in the frame- work of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model of the International Organization for Standardi- zation (ISO). After describing the IEEE standards (from 802.1 through 802.6), the way in which the stan- dards can be applied in 'real' networks is illustrated through a discussion of the Manufacturing Automation Protocol (MAP) and the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), in Chapters 9 and 10 respectively." 3.1. Ethernet Installation Guide This slightly out-of-date manual from HP is still one of the better sources for tutorial information on how to construct Ethernet coaxial cables. There are simi- lar manuals available from DEC, but the DEC manuals tend to focus exclusively on the DEC building wiring plan for Ethernet. The DEC system is called DECcon- nect, and is based on 10BASE2 thin Ethernet. o LAN Cable and Accessories Installation Manual Published by Hewlett-Packard Co, January 1986. Approx. 204 pps. with index. Page 19 Network Reading List $43.00. HP Part No. 5955-7680. Order from HP Direct at 800-538-8787. This manual is old, and therefore does not mention the twisted-pair Ethernet system. On the other hand, the thick Ethernet configuration information is useful and the guidelines for routing cables are informative. Thin Ethernet is also covered, using HP's ThinLAN name for the technology. Another nit to pick is that HP's cable grounding guide- lines allow metallic coax cable to be connected between buildings if HP's surge arrestors are installed, and strict guidelines as to cable type and length are observed. Given the ease of using fiber optic cable and fiber optic repeaters, and the dangers inherent in metallic network cables that travel between building frames, one would prefer that these guidelines be modi- fied to encourage the use of industry standard fiber optic cables. No doubt this is another example of the age of this manual, since the fiber optic inter repeater link is a relatively recent IEEE standard. The manual really shines when it comes to descriptions of thick cable and thin cable tooling and construction. The wire strippers and connector crimpers required for each cable type are described, although only HP part numbers are cited for these tools. There are also diagrams showing how to prepare each kind of cable for connectors, and how to crimp on N connectors and BNC connectors. There are useful safety warnings throughout the manual that explain the hazards of the tools, and the dangers that may be present when working on cable systems. The manual also shows how to tap a thick Ethernet cable for installation of the typical non-intrusive vampire tap transceiver. There's a short section on verifying the cables you've built, and a longer section on how to use a time domain reflectometer to test networks. As it happens, the crimp tools for Ethernet connectors shown in this manual use a mechanism that prevents them from opening until they have closed all the way. That can be pain- ful if a finger, rather than a connector, gets into the works. The HP manual thoughtfully includes an appendix on how to get your finger out of a crimp tool, should the need arise. 3.2. Ethernet Troubleshooting Guide o LAN Troubleshooting Handbook Mark A. Miller. Network Reading List Page 20 1989, M&T Publishing Co., Redwood City, CA., 309 pps. with index. $29.95. ISBN 1-55851-054-0 An wide-ranging guide to troubleshooting information for several LAN technologies, including Ethernet. The author manages to fit a large amount of technical information about three LAN technologies, Ethernet, token ring, and ARCNET, into one volume. The troub- leshooting information is clear, and the book is well illustrated. The material on Ethernet covers two sec- tions; one on coaxial cable based Ethernets (both thick and thin), and one on twisted pair Ethernet technology, including Synoptics LattisNet and AT&T StarLAN pro- ducts. The evolving IEEE 10BASE-T unshielded twisted pair system is described as well. From the Preface: "Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4 address the generic issues of LAN standards, Documentation, Test Equipment, and Cabling. Chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 address specific issues associated with popular LAN architectures: ARCNET, Token Ring, Ethernet, and StarLAN, respec- tively. Also included in the network-specific chapters are examples of protocol analysis of Novell's NetWare, IBM's NetBIOS, DEC's DECnet, and TCP/IP. Chapter 9 concludes with a dose of preventative medicine." 3.3. The Ethernet Standards The next several items list the formal Ethernet stan- dards in use today. Be warned that these items contain no tutorial or background material at all. They are the technical standards for Ethernet/802.3 LANs, and they can be heavy going for non-engineers. 3.3.1. Version 2.0, DEC-Intel-Xerox (DIX) Ethernet Standard o Ethernet Local Area Network Specification Version 2.0. November, 1982 Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel Corporation, Xerox Corporation, 103 pps. $32.00. DEC Part Number: AA-K759B-TK. Available from DEC-Direct by calling 800-344-4825. This is Version 2.0 of the original ten-megabit Ether- net specification. The newer IEEE 802.3 standard supersedes the DIX spec listed here, but many network protocol implementations still use the Ethernet frame Page 21 Network Reading List from this DIX specification. This specification is organized according to the OSI model, but unlike more recent standards, it uses language that is still fairly close to English. That makes it a document much more approachable by the non- expert than the IEEE standards tend to be. The DIX spec is still a technical standard, however, and con- tains no tutorial information on the design and opera- tion of Ethernets. Just the facts. 3.3.2. IEEE 802.3 Standard (ISO 8802.3) The IEEE 802.3 standard has been superseded by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 8802-3 : 1989 (E) standard. What this means is that Ethernet is now an international LAN standard, based on the US LAN technology that was invented by Xerox, and standardized first by the DIX group, and then by the IEEE. This, in turn, means that the IEEE sells the new ISO 8802-3 book now, instead of the older IEEE 802.3 book. o International Standard ISO 8802-3, ANSI/IEEE Std 802.3, Information Processing Systems - Local Area Networks - Part 3: Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) Access Method and Physical Layer Specifications First edition 1989-02-24. ISBN 1-55937-005-X. $65.00 (from IEEE publications catalog). IEEE members get 50% off on their first copy of a stan- dards publication. Available from, IEEE Service Center, 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-1331, or by calling 1-800-678-IEEE. The latest specifications for an Ethernet-like CSMA/CD LAN. Despite the major reworking of the original DIX spec by IEEE, and despite several changes made in the way things work, the IEEE and DIX specs are function- ally more alike than they are different. The changes that have caused problems are the ones that affect the signals and wiring on the transceiver (AUI) cable, pri- marily used in older thick Ethernet installations. Old and new equipment can interoperate well on Ethernet LANs, despite the differences in the DIX and IEEE/ISO specifications. For example, many network protocol implementations (TCP/IP among them) continue to use the original DIX Ethernet frame. At the same time, campus Ethernets used to interconnect the computers running Network Reading List Page 22 these implementations, also contain Ethernet equipment built according to both the DIX and 802.3 specs. The standards were written so that mixing things together like this still works. The ISO/IEEE standard contains much more jargon than the DIX standard and can be much less understandable at first. An explanatory guide to the OSI world, like Madron's book listed above, is a necessity to help the newcomer to OSI-based specs make any sense of it all. o Supplements to Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection,ANSI/IEEE Std 802.3b, c, d, and e-1989 $49.50 (from IEEE publications catalog). ISBN 0-471-61153-0 Same access as above. The companion document to ISO 8802-3 above. This sup- plement contains a set of additions to the standard, including the Fiber Optic Inter Repeater Link. Also included is the broadband standard (Type 10BROAD36) and a revision of section 9 of the 1985 standard on repeaters. 3.4. Ethernet Hardware and Vendors Ethernet hardware comes in several forms. At the lowest level, there's the basic parts consisting of cable and connectors. Next level up, there are built components like transceivers, transceiver cables, Eth- ernet interfaces, and repeaters. At the higher levels of network concatenations are devices such as Ethernet bridges and routers. Just to keep things interesting, there are also dif- ferent parts for the different types of Ethernet such as thick coax, thin coax, unshielded twisted pair, and broadband. Every vendor also seems to have a special variation of something like Ethernet hubs, or special Ethernet transceiver cable stretchers, or what have you. It's a large market, and impossible to cover in any short list of resources such as this one. The next several items list representative examples of various Ethernet vendors. Larger lists of vendors may be found in vendor guides published by the various LAN magazines. 3.4.1. Ethernet Parts - Coaxial Cable. There are many wire vendors selling Ethernet coaxial cables and transceiver cables. Belden Wire and Cable is one major wire vendor that has been making Ethernet Page 23 Network Reading List coaxial cables from the very beginning of the Ethernet standards. They have a line of coaxial cables for both thick and thin Ethernet. Belden also sells transceiver cables. Note that Belden offers a special 10BASE2 thin Ethernet cable that is not exactly the same outside diameter as the general RG 58 A/U or C/U cables used as acceptable media examples in the thin Ethernet specifications (10BASE2). Belden also offers the standard RG58 cables. If you order crimp-on connectors for the Bel- den 10BASE2 cable, you need to make sure that the BNC connectors you use will crimp onto the Belden cable properly. Check with the connector vendor, and tell them what cables you intend to use their connectors on. Belden has regional distributors across the US. Call their 800 number for more information. Belden Wire and Cable P.O. Box 1980, Richmond, IN 47375 Phone 1-800-BELDEN-1 3.4.2. More Ethernet Parts: Connectors and Other Com- ponents At the cable level you need things like cable connec- tors, tooling to install the connectors, cable termina- tors and other such essential small components. Once again, there's a large number of vendors selling such equipment. One distributor's catalog that lists many different vendors is the Anixter catalog. The Anixter Wiring Systems Product Catalog is a vast compendium of all manner of communications equipment. It has separate sections for both Ethernet and DEC's special Ethernet wiring system called DECconnect. The catalog also features a 65 page glossary of communica- tion industry terms, and a 45 page index. All in all a quite useful resource for the LAN manager. Many dif- ferent vendors are represented in the catalog. Cata- logs are available from your local Anixter distributor, or try: Anixter Bros., Inc. 4711 Golf Road Skokie, IL 60076 Phone 312-677-2600 Network Reading List Page 24 3.4.3. Ethernet Components and Other Equipment There are also hundreds of high quality vendors when it comes to Ethernet equipment like transceivers, repeaters, etc. A few are listed in the Anixter cata- log, above. One vendor not listed in the Anixter cata- log, but used at the University of Texas at Austin, is Cabletron Inc. It's also true that equipment from many other vendors is in use at the University of Texas at Austin. The Cabletron listing shown here is simply as a representative example. Your site may have different requirements for network equipment, and an independent evaluation should be con- ducted to find the best equipment for your needs. Lists of Ethernet equipment vendors may be found in the various LAN magazines and network trade journals. Cabletron equipment has features that have proved use- ful in building and operating departmental LANs. The use of multiple diagnostic LEDs on most of the Cabletron equipment has proven to be a major benefit when troubleshooting LAN problems. Other thoughtful design features, such as including a brace for securing transceiver cables on the multiport transceiver box, have been handy as well. Cabletron sells directly from the factory, and from local distributors. Cabletron Systems, Inc. Cabletron Industrial Park. E. Rochester, NH 03867 Phone 603-332-9400 3.5. Ethernet Numbers In this section some essential Ethernet numbers are covered in a couple of different ways. The first item consists of a collection of Ethernet numbers that are useful in network debugging. The second item lists the standards agencies that oversee the type field and the Ethernet/802.3 address assignments. 3.5.1. Ethernet Troubleshooting Numbers The DIX specification includes an Ethernet type field in the frame. This field is used to specify which type of high level network protocol is being carried by the Ethernet frame. The type field was dropped in the 802.3 frame specification, in favor of a more general, and more complex, set of frame specifiers. Neverthe- less, most vendors still use the DIX frame Page 25 Network Reading List specification, and its Ethernet type field. The list of Ethernet troubleshooting numbers below, contains descriptions of which type number corresponds to which protocol family. This information is useful in network debugging. Ethernet addresses contain another set of useful numbers. The Ethernet address is divided into two blocks of 24 bits each. The first block is used for the number identifying a specific manufacturer. If you know this manufacturer number, you can frequently identify the kind of host that is causing network problems. A list of useful Ethernet numbers for troubleshooting can be found in the latest Assigned Numbers RFC. The Assigned Numbers RFC that contains the Ethernet numbers is RFC1046. This RFC may be retrieved as described in the section on RFCs earlier in this document. This is a useful RFC to have on hand, since it also lists spe- cial numbers for the TCP/IP protocol suite and the TCP/IP implementation in UNIX, among other things. 3.5.2. Ethernet Type Field The Ethernet type field is part of the DIX specifica- tion, and was dropped in the 802.3 spec. Nonetheless, many vendors still use the DIX frame, and most TCP/IP implementations are based on the DIX frame. Xerox Corp. manages the list of Ethernet type fields. The Ethernet patents are owned by Xerox as well, and licenses to build Ethernet equipment using these patents can be arranged from the following source. Xerox Corporation Xerox Systems Institute 475 Oakmead Parkway Sunnyvale, CA 94086 408-737-4652 As stated in a recent Xerox literature catalog: "Per Appendix B of the Ethernet Specification, a Ether- net type field will be assigned on written request to each licensee of Ethernet patents. The licensing fee is $1000.00. Others wishing to obtain type field assignments may do so by including a $300.00 adminis- trative fee with their written request." 3.5.3. IEEE 802.3 Addresses The 48-bit Ethernet address is now known as a unique Host Identification number. Old addresses assigned by Xerox remain valid, but all new Ethernet addresses are Network Reading List Page 26 assigned by the IEEE. A block of addresses costs $1000.00. The address for inquiries is: IEEE Standards Office 820 Second Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10017-4504 (201) 981-0060 3.6. Ethernet Technical Report There have been many papers written about the Ethernet system over the years. A number of them have been based on simulations and simplifications of the Ether- net protocols. As a result, a persistent mythology about Ethernet performance has been established. Some people will tell you, based on these simulations and simplifications, that Ethernet systems saturate at relatively low packet rates. Fortunately, the analyses didn't stop there. The following technical report from the Digital Equip- ment Corporation's Western Research Lab documents empirical evidence showing that the 10 megabit Ethernet system is capable of transmitting large amounts of data in a reliable fashion. The report is also useful for its analysis of what makes a good Ethernet implementa- tion. Included is a brief set of guidelines for the network manager who wants their Ethernet system to run as well as possible. o Measured Capacity of an Ethernet: Myths and Real- ity David R. Boggs, Jeffrey C. Mogul, Christopher A. Kent. Proceedings of the SIGCOMM '88 Symposium on Com- munications Architectures and Protocols, ACM SIGCOMM, Stanford, CA., August 1988, 31 pps. From the Abstract: "Ethernet, a 10 Mbit/sec CSMA/CD network, is one of the most successful LAN technologies. Considerable confu- sion exists as to the actual capacity of an Ethernet, especially since some of the theoretical studies have examined operating regimes that are not characteristic of actual networks. Based on measurements of an actual implementation, we show that for a wide class of appli- cations, Ethernet is capable of carrying its nominal bandwidth of useful traffic, and allocates the bandwidth fairly." This paper is also available over the Internet via electronic mail from the DEC Western Research archive Page 27 Network Reading List server. Send a message to the following address with the word "help" in the Subject line of the message for detailed instructions. The address is WRL- Techreports@decwrl.dec.com. You may also request a copy of the report through the U.S. postal system by writing to: Technical Report Distribution DEC Western Research Laboratory, UCO-4 100 Hamilton Avenue Palo Alto, California 94301 Access Aside from access information listed above, the follow- ing book store can be of service: Computer Literacy Bookshop 2590 North First St. San Jose, CA 95131 Phone 408-435-1118 for mail orders. A good source for computer and electronics books of all kinds. They carry the IEEE network standards, and can probably supply most of the books listed above.