10 Gigabit Ethernet just the beginning
Let's play a quick word association game. What's the first thing that springs to mind when I write "T2?"
That "Terminator" movie with Ahnuhld? The never-was bandwidth spec between T-1 and T-3? What about the proposed 40-Gigabit Ethernet?
Yes, sure, the tech journals are just beginning to talk up 10G Ethernet. But 40G is coming. Whether it gets here, though, is another matter.
Last week, I had the good fortune to speak at the WDMcon - a convention for people who are really into wave division multiplexing. I spent a lot of time discussing solutions to the problems of high-speed fiber transmission in the metropolitan (5-30 km) market. Those problems include signal spread above 10G speeds (things can fall apart at longer distances), optical component costs (things are just way too expensive) and poor fiber quality (you'd be surprised at how "perfect fiber has to be to handle just 10G over distances of more than a few kilometers).
Fortunately, after talking to a number of experts at WDMcon, I've learned that fixing many of these problems won't be too hard. Getting the next step, to 40G Ethernet, however, will require something on the order of an act of God, if not some major R&D and a few gazillion man-years of work, not to mention some serious capital investments.
Interestingly, however, there seemed to be a consensus that if 40G can be solved, then 80G or even 100-Gigabit are not that far away. Think 40G is excessive? Enterasys this week unveils 10 Gigabit for the enterprise. With enterprises running 10G, suddenly 40G on the WAN starts sounding kind of underpowered.
So look for next next-generation optical vendors to skip 40G and go straight for 80 or 100 Gigabit Ethernet. And one day, you'll wonder whatever happened to 40G, just like every so often, you wonder how come there's no IPv5.
RELATED LINKS
The Keeping Current archive
Past columns.
Fred McClimans is the managing director of Fearless Ventures and the former CEO/founder of Current Analysis, Inc. Reach him at fred@fredmcclimans.com
The Keeping Current archive
Past columns.
Fred McClimans is the managing director of Fearless Ventures and the former CEO/founder of Current Analysis, Inc. Reach him at fred@fredmcclimans.com
