New Technologies Boost Data Center Operations: SPEEDING UP THE GIGABIT ETHERNET

摘要

Two industry leaders (the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE, and Intel) are working on a means to deliver information (or data) to the user faster, at rates of up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps). They are: 1. A copper technology: The recently approved standard for delivery of Ethernet at lOGbps over four pairs of coaxial copper wiring now known as the IEEE 802.3ak application (10GBASE-CX4), and 2. A fiber technology: The development of a (silicon) optical modulator that can handle 1 gigabit speeds to move data within a PC or a server, which may work up to a speed of lOGbps. This "need for speed" is indeed spreading throughout the industry. Some of the reasons for it are the fast-tracking of data-comm standards, the popularity of the new 10 gigabit Ethernet standard and indications from the copper and fiber physical layer industries that show they can deliver at high speeds, like 10Gbps.