Recent studies have concluded that in the not-too-distant future, the Internet is going to experience an enormous amount of expansion. But how much is the Web going to grow?
It is anticipated that the Internet will undergo an annual growth rate of 1.4 zettabytes. In other words, there will be more e-traffic in one year alone than the entire Internet supported from 1984 to 2012.
But while consumers might be panicking about how our current infrastructure will support such expansion and, rightfully so, Cisco is on top of the issue. The San Jose-based network hardware manufacturer recognizes that new technology is going to have to be built to help us reach—and manage—such a high plateau of connected users.
Cisco's Answer to the Expanding Internet - The "CTR" Router
According to a recent report, Cisco is already relatively close to producing the router that is going to facilitate the interaction of such a high volume of users. While the company has not officially made any announcements about the new Cisco router, analysts have learned enough about it and are referring to it as the “CTR.” The CTR, which will support a slot capacity of 1 tbit, will be the next step up from its predecessor, the CRS-3 router.
Cisco routers have made such a name for themselves in the space, particularly because of their seamless ability to connect networks to one another over the Internet. When data enters a network of computers, for example, it does not know where to go. The router receives information and, like its name suggests, routes it to the proper destination by determining the correct IP address.
Without routers, data would not be able to get where it needs to go. Hence, Internet wait time would increase dramatically. And, as we face such a large spike in connectivity, the need for equipment that can handle the transition is going to be even more important.