Compare and contrast X.25, Frame Relay, and ATM.

Compare and contrast X.25, Frame Relay, and ATM.

X.25:

• An older, low-capacity WAN technology with a maximum speed of 48 kbps. Typically used in dialup mode with point-of-sale card readers to validate transactions on a central computer.
• For these applications, the low bandwidth and high latency are not a concern, and the low cost makes X.25 affordable.
• Frame Relay has replaced X.25 at many service provider locations.

Frame Relay:

• A Layer 2 WAN protocol that typically offers data rates of 4 Mbps or higher.
• It provides permanent, shared, medium-bandwidth connectivity using virtual circuits that can carry both voice and data traffic.
• VCs are uniquely identified by a DLCI, which ensures bidirectional communication from one DTE device to another.

ATM:

• Asynchronous Transfer Mode technology is based on a cell-based architecture rather than a frame-based architecture, using fixed-length cells of 53 bytes.
• These small, fixed-length cells are well suited for carrying delay-sensitive voice and video traffic.

Exam with this question: EWAN v4 Chapter 1 Check Your Understanding: Introduction to WANs