Waiting for the big GIG

摘要

For years, people have cited users' insatiable appetite for more and more data as the primary driving factor for our ever-expanding networks. Each time Ethernet rates have been increased by an order of magnitude, users have quickly consumed the newly available bandwidth. With 1 -Gbps Ethernet NICs (network-interface cards) becoming standard on desktop and workstation computers, silicon vendors are poised to once again bring Ethernet to a new level by reaching for 10 Gbps. Several new standards are under development that promise to make 10 GE (Gigabit Ethernet) mainstream. Even though Ethernet doesn't offer the best-of-class functions that high-speed transactions typically require, the hope is to leverage the economies of scale that Ethernet has always enjoyed because of its wide deployment across many diverse applications, making 10 GE more cost-effective than links such as Fibre Channel. Another cost-saving angle is that using Ethernet reduces design, installation, and maintenance costs associated with having to manage multiple network technologies.