next up previous
Next: The Gigabit Networking Up: Available Networking Technologies Previous: Fiber Distributed Digital

Ethernet

Venerable 10 megabit-per-second Ethernet is a networking technology that still has some remaining life, because of the momentum of its massive legacy status and because of its cost/performance ratio. Most workstations have built in Ethernet adapters and the cost to add an Ethernet adapter to a personal computer (PC) is generally significantly less than $100. Ethernet adapters cost at least an order of magnitude less than any fiber optic-based networking technology. IBM is attempting to reduce the cost of their 25 megabit-per-second ATM cards that use twisted-pair wire for interconnections to compete with Ethernet interfaces. However, that technology presently costs at least five times that of Ethernet adapters, with only marginal increases in performance. If market share for low-data-rate twisted wire ATM interface cards increases significantly, then the cost for this technology will decrease. Unfortunately, there will always be the additional costs of switches for ATM networks over and above the costs of network interface cards. Switches are not required with shared media like 10 megabit-per-second Ethernet, although switch costs must be included in higher speed Ethernet products.

Higher-speed versions of Ethernet have been developed, although there was almost no sign of support for these high-speed LAN technologies from exhibitors at SuperComputing '94, although network product vendors at Interop+Networld the previous September provided an extensive offering of high-speed switched Ethernet products. Many vendors at SuperComputing '94 responded that they will support such networking technologies, although I was regularly asked why I was interested in high-speed Ethernet technologies. Exhibitors attempted to direct me towards technologies that offered higher speed, ie., serial HiPPI, Fibre Channel, and ATM, or more robust capabilities, ie., the extensibility of ATM to the LAN, MAN, and WAN environments.



David P. Koester
Sun Oct 22 13:05:27 EDT 1995