Ethernet Goes for 100 Gigabits

[thexfactor]

Ethernet will keep accelerating, speeding up to 100 Gigabits per second in the next few years, the head of a standards study group says.

A special study group of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) recently agreed on a target for the next generation of the ubiquitous data networking technology. The 100gbps version of Ethernet will be ten times faster than the current fastest type, 10-Gigabit Ethernet. But vendors as well as users represented in the group, including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories and cable operator Comcast, see a need for that kind of speed down the road, said John D'Ambrosia, chair of the group. It will serve the needs of both enterprises and carriers, he said.

PC World - Ethernet Goes for 100 Gigabits

 

[thexfactor]

Yes, we're gonna have to go right to ludicrous speed

Just as gigabit Ethernet starts making its way into the mainstream, the Ethernet Alliance today announced the next jump in networking. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 Higher Speed Study Group (HSSG) voted to support 100 Gb/s as the next speed. In addition, the IEEE 802.3 HSSG also agreed to support reaches of at least 100 meters on OM3 MMF (multimode fiber) and of at least 10km on SMF (single-mode fiber).

"While 100G Ethernet has been touted in the press, the HSSG took the time to hear presentations and discuss the next speed jump. Ultimately, it was perceived that the ROI requirements would be balanced by the investment in the 10x increase in speed. The decision by the group continues to validate the industry’s belief in Ethernet’s long tradition of increasing speed in increments of 10x," said Lucinda Borovick, Director, Datacenter Networks, IDC.

With the boom of so-called Web 2.0 companies such as YouTube there is an increasing demand for advancements in network technology, which is where 100G Ethernet fits in. Of course, this news only marks the approval to look towards 100G. The next step is to investigate the feasibility of accomplishing such a feat which is more difficult.

"There is still a lot of work to be done to finalize our objectives, and where this thing will go," John D'Ambrosia, chair of the IEEE HSSG, said in a Network World story. A formal task force could be approved by July 2007 to help lay the groundwork, though a completed 100G Ethernet standard might not appear until 2009 or 2010.

100G may come through with the help of existing technology and parallel data transmission. A 100G-like result was achieved though link aggregation at a recent multi-vendor demonstration showing 10 10Gbps signals linked together. D'Ambrosia goes on to say that a possible solution may be the use of multiple 10Gbps signals over multiple lanes. "There has been a lot of maturing in 10G technology … Everyone [in the HSSG] has a high comfort level that we can leverage existing technology," he said.

DailyTech - IEEE Supports 100G as Next Ethernet Speed