Subject: 9277 LATEST VERSION OF ETHERNET TO PUSH SPEED LIMIT 02.11.00

From: HPCwire <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 10:22:44 -0800 (PST)

LATEST VERSION OF ETHERNET TO PUSH SPEED LIMIT                     02.11.00
SCIENCE & ENGINEERING NEWS                                          HPCwire
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  San Diego, CA -- 3Com, Cisco Systems, Sun Microsystems and a handful of
other firms plan to push the edge of the networking speed envelope by
supporting new high-speed technology for corporate networks and the Internet.
According to reporter Wylie Wong for CNET, the companies hope to spearhead an
increase in the capacity of Ethernet, the dominant networking technology for
connecting PCs and server computers together on a network.

  The group will help create a standard for 10-gigabits-per-second (Gbps)
Ethernet, a higher-speed version of the existing, dominant local area network
technology. A similar effort was undertaken to develop a market for
gigabit-speed Ethernet, a version which is just now taking hold.

  What makes the latest speed boost interesting is the fact that Ethernet is
already so widely deployed. Network managers well-versed in the technology,
for example, could one day conceivably run Ethernet-based systems across their
local network layouts as well as their long-distance links.

  Networking firms are pushing the speed limit to provide the bandwidth needed
for the voice, video and data services being sent across networks, such as
large files being exchanged between businesses. Analysts said 10-gigabit
Ethernet will be important in the future to help ease network congestion.

  Ethernet has historically been used to link a company's office computers
together. But with the faster gigabit speed, Internet service providers (ISPs)
and telecommunications carriers can use, for the first time, Ethernet-based
networking equipment to create faster Internet-based networks. In some cases,
it can serve as a cheaper replacement to asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)
technology, which sends voice and data signals over networks at high speeds,
Dataquest analyst Todd Hanson said.

  Businesses will first use 10-gigabit Ethernet to link their corporate
headquarters with remote offices, according to Hanson. Service providers will
become the second group to deploy the high-speed technology, he said. And as
the demand for bandwidth among users increases, it may find its way into
offices, connecting high-end computer systems together.

  Ethernet currently reaches gigabit speeds, or 1,000 megabits per second
(Mbps). While some businesses have adopted the newest standard, most are still
using older and slower Ethernet technology that runs at 10 or 100 Mbps.
Products based on the gigabit-speed version have been out for some time, but
many firms have just recently seen a significant surge in sales of the
technology.

  The new standards group, called the "10 Gigabit Ethernet Alliance," includes
Extreme Networks, Intel, Nortel Networks and a networking start-up called
World Wide Packets. The organization's goals are three-fold: contribute to the
standards effort led by a standards body called the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers, promote the new standard, and create guidelines
that will help tech companies ensure that their products built using the
faster Ethernet technology are compatible with each other, according to Edward
Hopkins, 3Com's technical marketing manager.

  The standards body is expected to approve a standard by spring 2002 with the
first products from networking firms shipping just before that, according to
Hanson.

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