ISO 8802/3 local-area networks

The most widely used form of local-area network is formally defined as the ISO 8802/3 carrier sense multiple access with collision detection system, more commonly known as Ethernet. Different market surveys attribute varying degrees of commercial penetration for Ethernet but within Europe it is generally agreed that it is used for some 50% of all installed local networks (token ring installations accounting for another 25%). It is therefore somewhat surprising to find that there is still a considerable amount of ignorance in understanding how it operates and the range of architectural options available for installations. In fact it is the extent of this ignorance amongst users and network managers which reflects its ease and simplicity of use and which is a tribute to its outstanding product engineering and the efforts of the standardisation organisations