- Mythbuster busts his own tale
- 10 open source companies to watch
- Sony recalls 73,000 Vaio laptops
- Tool to evade China's Web censorship
- Chrome and Firefox and add-ons
Newsletters | Podcasts | Chats | Opinions | RSS Feeds | This Week In Print | IT Careers | Community | Reports | Downloads | Slideshows | New Data Center
Partner Sites:App Performance | On Demand Security | Networking Solution | SOA | Value of WDS
Site Editor Jeff Caruso helps you make sense of the evolving world of LANs and routers.
Last week, the IEEE Standards Association Review Committee recommended the approval of IEEE 802.3an by the Standards Board, which in turn approved the publication of 802.3an without opposition.
That means the specification, also known as 10GBase-T, is now standard, and we can all start running 10 Gigabit Ethernet over our twisted-pair copper wiring with wild abandon.
Well, almost. What it really means is that we should expect products built on the standard to start making their way to the market. And you're probably going to want to make sure you have the cabling in place to support it if that's the way you want to go.
I recently received an e-mail from one vendor in the business that reminds us that Category-6a and Category-7 cabling products that would support the new 10 Gigabit Ethernet are available today, while "legacy" Category-6 cabling can still be used for 10G, at least up to 55 meters.
Legacy Cat-6? My guess is that folks who see a need for 10GBase-T will likely be installing all-new copper wiring or going straight from their current Cat-5e to the latest cabling. Let me know if I'm wrong about that.
At any rate, the 802.3an task force has been working toward this goal for more than two years, and let us not forget there was a time when folks said that 10 Gigabit over copper could not be done (or at least, that it was very difficult). They are to be congratulated.
Now the torch is passed to the vendors developing products to support the standard.
Jeff Caruso is site editor at Network World.

This white paper shows how route analytics is used to ensure that dynamic IP network behavior...
Advancing the Economics of NetworkingAging network systems and old habits have dictated how businesses spend their IT budgets. As a...
Implementing HA at the Enterprise Data Center Edge to Connect to a Large Number of Branch OfficesThis paper reviews the problem of creating a network where the dynamic availability of services is...

Get caught up to speed on the latest WAN optimization developments in this informative Editorial...
Transforming the Enterprise WAN Edge: Video from CiscoLife on the edge of your WAN has changed dramatically. With the need to deliver advanced services,...
PoE Plus: Impact on the PoE MarketThe standard for Power over Ethernet (PoE), IEEE Std. 802.3af(tm)-2003, advanced networking,...

WAN Ethernet services are reliable, cost-efficient offerings that are widely available and in a...
Get More From Your WANDownload this Network World Executive Guide and get information that details how real-world...
WAN Optimization: How to rev up sluggish applicationsWAN optimization technology is maturing and buyers are more comfortable than ever with tools that...
Partner Content
Simplify Your Branch Infrastructure
Learn how to simplify your branch infrastructure while dramatically increasing app performance with Citrix Branch Repeater.
Download the Free Info Kit
Next-Gen Load Balancing
Free Guide: "Next Gen Load Balancing: 8 Things You Need to Handle Today's Network Traffic" shows you the functionality needed in your next load balancer.
Download the Free Guide
Accelerate Your Web Apps by up to 5x
Free Guide: "The Secret to Getting Maximum Speed from your Web Applications." Learn how you can deliver Web apps up to 5x faster.
Download the Free Guide
Comment