The 802.3z Gigabit Ethernet Standard

Considers standards development in the IEEE 802.3z Gigabit Ethernet Task Force, part of the IEEE 802.3 CSMA/CD Working Group. IEEE Std 802.3z-1998 was formally approved by the IEEE Standards Board on June 25th, 1998. IEEE Std 802.3z, extends the operating speed of the world's most popular local area network to 1 billion bits per second (1000 Mb/s) for interconnecting high-performance switches, routers, and servers in the backbone of local area networks. Maintaining backward compatibility with the over-100-million-node installed base of 10 Mb/s and 100 Mb/s was a key requirement.