Modern Ethernet

Question 1

first small form factor fiber connector

Answer 1

mechanical transfer registered jack (MT-RJ)

Question 2

the standard connector contact type today for fiber, in which the two piece of fiber touch when inserted thanks to be slightly spherical and highly polished

Answer 2

physical contact (PC) connector

Question 3

older fiber connector contact type that suffered from imperfections in the glass, resulting in a slight gap between connection points

Answer 3

flat-surface connector

Question 4

fiber connector contact type that is extensively polished polished even compared to today’s normal

Answer 4

ultra physical contact (UPC) connector

Question 5

fiber connector contact type that adds an 8-degree angle to its curved end and whose connections does not degrade from multiple insertions

Answer 5

angled physical contact (APC) connector

Question 6

standard for modular Ethernet ports; a transceiver (connecting module) with this standard can be pulled out of a Gigabit switch and then have another plugged in with another flavor of Gigabit Ethernet

Answer 6

gigabit interface converter (GBIC)

Question 7

approximate 10 Gbps fiber network already in place at the time 10 Gbe came into being

Answer 7

synchronous optical network (SONET)

Question 8

smaller modular transceiver like the GBIC

Answer 8

small form-factor pluggable (SFP)

Question 9

agreements among multiple manufacturers to make interoperable devices and standards; in response to 10 Gbe and the many types

Answer 9

multisource agreement (MSA, also Master Service Agreement)

Question 10

one of the most popular transceivers currently used for 10 GbE

Answer 10

enhanced small form-factor pluggable (SFP+)

Question 11

technology used to combine and differentiate multiple optical signals on a single fiber cable by using different frequencies

Answer 11

wave (wave-length) division multiplexing (WDM)

Question 12

transceivers that only have one optical port designed to send signals at one wavelength and receive on another wavelength; one must be installed on both ends of the cable

Answer 12

Bidirectional transceivers (BiDi)

Question 13

type of fiber transceiver used as a BiDi transceiver in 40GBase networks

Answer 13

quad small form-factor pluggable (QSFP)

Question 14

network popular for achieving fast speeds and low costs; in this network a series of switches (perhaps on different floors) are connected to one central switch using very high speed (likely fiber) connections, while all nodes/computers connect to the other switches using multispeed Ethernet

Answer 14

backbone