[reemas]

im not sure why i would need or want it? where can i use it?

[Krusty]

Ethernet is rated by speed. 10 Mbps, 100Mbps, or 1000 Mbps.
10 Mbps was common in the mid and late 90's. From the late 90's thru today, 100 Mbps is the most common. A few years ago, Apple started putting 1000 Mbps ethernet as standard on its Power Macs and some of its power books. Most consumer level machines still have 100 mbps ethernet.

1000 Mbps ethernet is referred to as "gigabit ethernet". You would only really want it if you have other machines that have gigabit ethernet that you are connected to.

sidenote: 8 bits = 1 byte. So, "normal" 100 mbps ethernet has a theoretical maximum throughput of 12.5 megabytes/sec (100 divided by 8). Gigabit ethernet would have a maximum throughput of 125 megabytes/sec (1000/8) Note that most hard drives can move data at between 20 and 65 megabytes/sec. Some very fast Raid arrays can do 100 megabytes/sec. So, gigabit ethernet theoretically has enough bandwidth to transfer data as fast as your hard drive can send. 100 mbps ethernet would be a bottleneck and max out at 12.5 MB/sec (less than that really, none of these protocols actually achieve their maximum rated speeds).

So, to answer your questions:
You'd want it to increase network performance.
You can use its in any normal ethernet network.

[jamesa]

the minute you have to transfer a big file over a network, you'll appreciate the additional speed.

I think Apple should start shipping it in more of their machines to get it to become a standard as 100bT has over the last few years.

-- james

[bradoesch]

Originally posted by reemas:
im not sure why i would need or want it? where can i use it?

Sounds like you don't need it. Are you hesitant about purchasing a Mac with only 10/100 ethernet? What's your situation?

[reemas]

thanks for the replies.

actually i have a new powerbook and its a rad machine. i just never knew what that was and if i should be able to use it or not. thanks for the explanations!

so if my friend brings her powerbook over, does it matter if we tranfer files via gigabit ethernet or firewire considering we don't have raid hard drives?

also, does it run on the regular cat 5 cable?

[bradoesch]

FireWire 800 has a maximum theoretical speed of 100 MB/s compared to Gigabit Ethernet at 125 MB/s. I don't know which one will be fastest, but using Ethernet will be simpler. Cat 5e cables are supposed to work, but to make sure you could buy Cat 6 or Cat 5e that is tested for Gigabit.