If anything has been slowing the adoption of Gigabit Ethernet, it's the stark reality that even the most high-powered servers couldn't make good use of the technology's capability.
Industry watchers blame operating systems, bus speeds and other factors for the inability of many servers to fill a gigabit pipe. But at the same time, they acknowledge that the problems can be solved. They say it's only a matter of time before network interface cards improve their efficiency and servers add the power necessary.
Some recent tests that bear this out were published a couple months ago by Network World (www.nwfusion.com/news/1999/1101unixfeat.html). A few folks at Mier Communications ran some throughput tests on a high-end HP 9000 server, using Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. Sustained average throughput for large file transfers was 762M bit/sec over a single Gigabit Ethernet link.
It would be nice if server vendors could get that number even higher, and I'm sure with more time it will improve. But it's nothing to sneeze at, and the authors concluded that the server used enough of the gigabit link to make upgrading to Gigabit Ethernet worthwhile.
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In addition to writing this newsletter, Jeff Caruso edits Network World's e-mail newsletters from his office on New York's Long Island. If you would like to make suggestions about newsletter format or content, or even just express your opinion on today's topic, you can reach Jeff at jcaruso@nww.com.
High Speed LANs archive
Past newsletters.
Network World, 11/01/99.
Packet-pushing powerhouse
Network World, 01/10/2000.
10-Gigabit Ethernet off to a running start
Network World, 11/29/99.
Grade-A network
Western Heights School District teaches that a unified network can be built today
Network World, 11/15/99.
