What is GbE?
Ethernet cabling is used to hard-wire local area networks (LANs), and gigabit Ethernet (GbE) is a set of Ethernet standards with a minimum data transfer speed of 1-gigabit per second (gbps). This is equivalent to 1,000 megabits per second (mbps), thereby surpassing previous FastEthernet and original Ethernet speeds of 100 mbps and 10 mbps respectfully. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) sets the standards for Ethernet technologies. This allows manufacturers to make networking hardware and software that is compliant with uniform “flavors” of Ethernet. There are four such flavors of GbE. As outlined in IEEE’s 802.3z and 802.3ab standards, GbE uses one of two types of optical fiber, twisted pair, or copper cabling, though the latter is legacy technology. Of the optical cabling used, there is multi-mode and single-mode cable. The difference lies in how signals are transmitted through the lines. Each GbE standard is designated by an abbreviated name. The “1000” ref
