An analogy can be made between network traffic and water flowing through pipes. Picture water flowing at that speed through two different pipes. One is 1 a one-inch garden hose, and the other is a big honkin' 5 inch plastic pipe. Both are always completely full of water. You can see that the 5 inch pipe will fill a bucket much faster than the 1 inch hose.
Full duplex means that traffic can move both ways at the same time on a connection.
Half duplex means that traffic can only move one way at a time, so an outgoing transmission must be completed before an incoming transmission can start. All of the above connection sizes assume half-duplex unless specified. Most academic buildings currently connect to the backbone at 10Mbps. All residence halls connect at 100Mbps. In the residence halls, the majority of the in-room connections can run at a full 100Mbps, with some connections in each hall running at 10Mbps.