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ARCNET
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

AttachedResourceComputerNETwork(abbreviatedARCNETorARCnet)isacommunications
protocolforlocalareanetworks.ARCNETwasthefirstwidelyavailablenetworkingsystemfor
microcomputersitbecamepopularinthe1980sforofficeautomationtasks.Itwaslaterappliedto
embeddedsystemswherecertainfeaturesoftheprotocolareespeciallyuseful.

Contents
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History
Description
Seealso
References
Externallinks

History
ARCNETwasdevelopedbyprincipaldevelopmentengineerJohnMurphyatDatapointCorporationin
1976underVictorPoor,andannouncedin1977.[1]Itwasoriginallydevelopedtoconnectgroupsoftheir
Datapoint2200terminalstotalktoashared8"floppydisksystem.Asmicrocomputerstookoverfromthe
Datapoint,ARCNETwasrepurposedasLAN.ItwasthefirstlooselycoupledLANbasedclustering
solution,makingnoassumptionsaboutthetypeofcomputersthatwouldbeconnected.Thiswasincontrast
tocontemporarylargerandmoreexpensivecomputersystemssuchasDECnetorSNA,wherea
homogeneousgroupofsimilarorproprietarycomputerswereconnectedasacluster.
ThetokenpassingbusprotocolofthatI/Odevicesharingnetworkwassubsequentlyappliedtoallowing
processingnodestocommunicatewitheachotherforfileservingandcomputingscalabilitypurposes.An
applicationcouldbedevelopedinDATABUS,Datapoint'sproprietaryCOBOLlikelanguageanddeployed
onasinglecomputerwithdumbterminals.Whenthenumberofusersoutgrewthecapacityoftheoriginal
computer,additional'compute'resourcecomputerscouldbeattachedviaARCNET,runningthesame
applicationsandaccessingthesamedata.Ifmorestoragewasneeded,additionaldiskresourcecomputers
couldalsobeattached.Thisincrementalapproachbrokenewgroundandbytheendofthe1970s(before
thefirstcassettebasedIBMPCwasannouncedin1981)overtenthousandARCnetLANinstallationswere
incommercialusearoundtheworld,andDatapointhadbecomeaFortune500company.As
microcomputerstookovertheindustry,wellprovenandreliableARCNETwasalsoofferedasan
inexpensiveLANforthesemachines.
ARCNETremainedproprietaryuntiltheearlytomid1980s.Thisdidnotcauseconcernatthetime,as
mostnetworkarchitectureswereproprietary.Themovetononproprietary,opensystemsbeganasa
responsetothedominanceofInternationalBusinessMachines(IBM)anditsSystemsNetworkArchitecture
(SNA).In1979,theOpenSystemsInterconnectionReferenceModel(OSImodel)waspublished.Then,in
1980,Digital,IntelandXerox(theDIXconsortium)publishedanopenstandardforEthernetthatwassoon
adoptedasthebasisofstandardizationbytheIEEEandtheISO.IBMrespondedbyproposingTokenRing
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asanalternativetoEthernetbutkeptsuchtightcontroloverstandardizationthatcompetitorswerewaryof
usingit.ARCNETwaslessexpensivethaneither,morereliable,moreflexible,andbythelate1980sithad
amarketshareaboutequaltothatofEthernet.Tandy/RadioShackofferedARCNETasanapplicationand
filesharingmediumfortheirTRS80ModelII,Model12,Model16,Tandy6000,Tandy2000,Tandy1000
andTandy1200computermodels.[2][3]
WhenEthernetmovedfromcoaxialcabletotwistedpairandan"interconnectedstars"cablingtopology
basedonactivehubs,itbecamemuchmoreattractive.Easiercabling,combinedwiththegreaterrawspeed
ofEthernet(10Mbit/s,ascomparedwith2.5Mbit/sforARCnet)helpedtoincreaseEthernetdemand,and
asmorecompaniesenteredthemarketthepriceofEthernetstartedtofallandARCNET(andTokenRing)
volumestaperedoff.
Inresponsetogreaterbandwidthneeds,andthechallengeofEthernet,anewstandardcalledARCnetPlus
wasdevelopedbyDatapoint,andintroducedin1992.ARCnetPlusranat20Mbit/s,andwasbackward
compatiblewithoriginalARCnetequipment.However,bythetimeARCnetPlusproductswerereadyfor
themarket,Ethernethadcapturedthemajorityofthenetworkmarket,andtherewaslittleincentivefor
userstomovebacktoARCnet.Asaresult,veryfewARCnetPlusproductswereeverproduced.Thosethat
werebuilt,mainlybyDatapoint,wereexpensive,andhardtofind.
ARCNETwaseventuallystandardizedasANSIARCNET878.1.Itappearsthiswaswhenthename
changedfromARCnettoARCNET.Othercompaniesenteredthemarket,notablyStandardMicrosystems
whoproducedsystemsbasedonasingleVLSIchip,originallydevelopedascustomLSIforDatapoint,but
latermadeavailablebyStandardMicrosystemstoothercustomers.Datapointeventuallyfounditselfin
financialtroubleandeventuallymovedintovideoconferencingand(later)customprogramminginthe
embeddedmarket.
EventhoughARCNETisnowrarelyusedfornewgeneralnetworks,thediminishinginstalledbasestill
requiressupportanditretainsanicheinindustrialcontrol.[4]

Description
OriginalARCNETusedRG62/Ucoaxialcableof93impedanceandeitherpassiveoractivehubsina
starwiredbustopology.Atthetimeofitsgreatestpopularity,thiswasasignificantadvantageofARCNET
overEthernet.Astarwiredbuswasmucheasiertobuildandexpand(andwasmorereadilymaintainable)
thantheclumsylinearbusEthernetofthetime.The"interconnectedstars"cablingtopologymadeiteasyto
addandremovenodeswithouttakingdownthewholenetwork,andmucheasiertodiagnoseandisolate
failureswithinacomplexLAN.
AnothersignificantadvantageARCNEThadoverEthernetwascabledistance.ARCNETcoaxcableruns
couldextend610m(2,000ft)betweenactivehubsorbetweenanactivehubandanendnode,whilethe
RG58(50)'thin'Ethernetmostwidelyusedatthattimewaslimitedtoamaximumrunof180m(600ft)
fromendtoend.
ARCNEThadthedisadvantageofrequiringeitheranactiveorpassivehubbetweennodesiftherewere
morethantwonodesinthenetwork,whilethinEthernetallowednodestobespacedanywherealongthe
linearcoaxcable.However,ARCNETpassivehubswereveryinexpensive,beingcomposedofasimple,
small,unpoweredboxwithfourports,wiredtogetherwithnothingmorethanfourdiscreteresistors,sothe
disadvantagewasnotsignificant.
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Passivehubslimitedthedistancebetweenanodeandanactivehubto30m(100ft).Apassivehubcould
notbeconnecteddirectlytoanotherpassivehub.Unusedportsonbothtypesofhubshadtobeterminated
withaspecialconnector.
Toreducecosts,whilestillallowingcoverageoverawidearea,acommonpracticewastouseoneormore
interconnectedactivehubs,eachofwhichprovidedcoveragefornodesnomorethan60m(200ft)away.
Cablewasrunfromeachportoftheactivehubstoadifferentlocationnomorethan30m(100ft)away.A
passivehubwouldthenbeattachedtotheendofthecable,andcableswouldberunlocallyfromthe
passivehub,allowingconnectionofuptothreenodes.Inthisway,asingle8portactivehubcouldbeused
toconnect24networkeddevicesoveranareanotexceeding120m(400ft)indiameter.
ARCNETallowedonly255nodespernetwork.NodeIDsforLANworkstationsweretypicallysetbyDIP
switchesonthenetworkinterfacecard.Largernetworkswouldhavetobesplitintosmallernetworks,and
bridged.ThesmallnumberofpossiblenodesandtheneedtomanuallyconfigureIDswasadisadvantage
comparedwithEthernet,particularlyaslargeenterprisenetworksbecamecommon.
Tomediateaccesstothebus,ARCNET,likeTokenRing,usesatokenpassingscheme,ratherthanthe
carriersensemultipleaccessapproachofEthernet.Whenpeersareinactive,asingle"token"messageis
passedaroundthenetworkfrommachinetomachine,andnopeerisallowedtousethebusunlessithasthe
token.Ifaparticularpeerwishestosendamessage,itwaitstoreceivethetoken,sendsitsmessage,and
thenpassesthetokenontothenextstation.BecauseARCNETisimplementedasadistributedstar,the
tokencannotbepassedmachinetomachinearoundaring.Instead,eachnodeisassignedan8bitaddress
(usuallyviaDIPswitches),andwhenanewnodejoinsthenetworka"reconfig"occurs,whereineachnode
learnstheaddressofthenodeimmediatelyaboveit.Thetokenisthenpasseddirectlyfromonenodetothe
next.
Historically,eachapproachhaditsadvantages:ARCNETaddedasmalldelayonaninactivenetworkasa
sendingstationwaitedtoreceivethetoken,butEthernet'sperformancedegradeddrasticallyiftoomany
peersattemptedtobroadcastatthesametime,duetothetimerequiredfortheslowerprocessorsoftheday
toprocessandrecoverfromcollisions.ARCNEThadslightlylowerbestcaseperformance(viewedbya
singlestream),butwasmuchmorepredictable.ARCNETalsohastheadvantagethatitachieveditsbest
aggregateperformanceunderthehighestloading,approachingasymptoticallyitsmaximumthroughput.
WhilethebestcaseperformancewaslessthanEthernet,thegeneralcasewasequivalentandtheworstcase
wasdramaticallybetter.AnEthernetnetworkcouldcollapsewhentoobusyduetoexcessivecollisions.An
ARCNETwouldkeepongoingatnormal(orevenbetter)throughput.Throughputonamultinode
collisionbasedEthernetwaslimitedtobetween40%and60%ofbandwidthusage(dependingonsource).
Although2.5Mbit/sARCNETcouldatonetimeoutperforma10Mbit/sEthernetinabusyofficeonslow
processors,ARCNETultimatelygavewaytoEthernetasimprovedprocessorspeedsreducedtheimpactof
collisionsonoverallthroughput,andEthernetcostsdropped.
Intheearly1980sARCNETwasmuchcheaperthanEthernet,inparticularforPCs.Forexample,in1985
SMCsoldARCNETcardsforaroundUS$300whilstanUngermannBassEthernetcardplustransceiver
couldcostUS$500.
AnothersignificantdifferenceisthatARCNETprovidesthesenderwithaconcreteacknowledgment(or
not)ofsuccessfuldeliveryatthereceivingendbeforethetokenpassesontothenextnode,permittingmuch
fasterfaultrecoverywithinthehigherlevelprotocols(ratherthanhavingtowaitforatimeoutonthe

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expectedreplies).ARCnetalsodoesn'twastenetworktimetransmittingtoanodenotreadytoreceivethe
message,sinceaninitialinquiry(doneathardwarelevel)establishesthattherecipientisableandreadyto
receivethelargermessagebeforeitissentacrossthebus.
OnefurtheradvantagethatARCNETenjoyedovercollisionbasedEthernetisthatitguaranteesequitable
accesstothebusbyeveryoneonthenetwork.Althoughitmighttakeashorttimetogetthetoken
dependingonthenumberofnodesandthesizeofthemessagescurrentlybeingsentabout,youwillalways
receiveitwithinapredictablemaximumtimethusitisdeterministic.ThismadeARCNETanidealreal
timenetworkingsystem,whichexplainsitsuseintheembeddedsystemsandprocesscontrolmarkets.
TokenRinghassimilarqualities,butismuchmoreexpensivetoimplementthanARCNET.
InspiteofARCNET'sdeterministicoperationandhistoricsuitabilityforrealtimeenvironmentssuchas
processcontrol,thegeneralavailabilityofswitchedgigabitEthernetandQualityofservicecapabilitiesin
EthernetswitcheshasallbuteliminatedARCNETtoday.
AtfirstthesystemwasdeployedusingRG62/Ucoaxialcable(commonlyusedinIBMmainframe
environmentstoconnect3270terminalsandcontrollers),butlateraddedsupportfortwistedpairandfibre
media.AtARCNET'slowerspeeds(2.5Mbit/s),Cat3cableisgoodenoughtorunARCNET.Some
ARCNETtwistedpairproductssupportedcablerunsover2000'onstandardCat3cable,farbeyond
anythingEthernetcoulddoonanykindofcoppercable.
Intheearly1990s,ThomasConradCorporationdevelopeda100Mbit/stopologycalledTCNSbasedon
theARCNETprotocol,whichalsosupportedRG62,twistedpair,andfiberopticmedia.[5]TCNSenjoyed
somesuccessuntiltheavailabilityoflowercost100Mbit/sEthernetputanendtothegeneraldeployment
ofARCNETasaLANprotocol.
However,becauseofitssimple,robustnature,ARCNETcontrollersarestillsoldandusedinindustrial,
embedded,andautomotiveapplications.

Seealso
Listofdevicebandwidths
RFC1201TransmittingIPTrafficoverARCNETNetworks

References
1."History",ARCNETTradeAssociation(http://www.arcnet.com/abtarc.htm#history)
2."ArcnetBoardPartsList".
3."TandyPicksARCNET".
4."ARCNETforControl"(http://www.ccontrols.com/arccontrol/index.htm),ccontrols.com
5."TheRodneyDangerfieldofNetworkComputing"(https://archive.org/stream/ARCNET
DocumentManagement/ARCNETDocumentManagement_djvu.txt),archive.org

Externallinks
ARCNETTradeAssociation(http://www.arcnet.com/)
HistoryofDatapoint,includingARCnet/ARCnetPlusDevelopment
(http://www.fundinguniverse.com/companyhistories/DatapointCorporationCompanyHistory.html)
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