IEEE chooses two higher speeds for Ethernet

LANs & Routers This newsletter is sponsored by Cisco Best Practices for Extending Your Network Architecture Access podcasts, whitepapers and more that offer best practices and principles for extending your architecture across a campus. Learn about the design principles that will transform your campus net and how to tackle the critical areas of integrated security, unified network services and more. Click here to read now! Network World's LANs & Routers Newsletter, 07/24/07 IEEE chooses two higher speeds for Ethernet By Jeff Caruso Should the next standard speed of Ethernet be 40Gbps or 100Gbps? Last week the IEEE's Higher Speed Study Group finally came up with an answer: both. We saw last month how the group, which had seemed to settle on 100Gbps as the next speed for Ethernet, actually continued to be divided over whether the speed should be 40Gbps or 100Gbps. Last week's meeting was to be a crossroads; the group had to choose a path. It could split into two groups or it could just choose one speed or the other. The group chose a third option. There will be a single task force working on both speeds, which is the first time such a thing has happened. The project will include the 40Gbps rate for server and storage applications and the 100Gbps rate for aggregation. Get Up to Speed on the Latest in WLANs Easily stay on top of the latest developments and issues in WLAN technology, standards, security, telephony, management and more with Network World's latest Executive Guide, "Keeping Up With the Wireless Whirlwind." Click here to download! The Ethernet Alliance issued a statement laying out the rationale for the dual-speed objectives: "The HSSG investigated the needs and requirements for the next speed of Ethernet technology. A key finding was a divergence in bandwidth demand between the networking and computing industries. It was discovered 100GbE would likely best meet the demands of the next generation Internet backbone and network aggregation points. In enterprise computing, 40GbE better matches the bandwidth demand driven by server technologies such as host bus interfaces, memory speeds, and multi-core processing." The group proposed physical-layer interfaces that would allow distances of up to 100 meters for 40Gbps and up to 40 kilometers for 100Gbps. However, by pursuing both standards in the same group, is the group biting off more than it can chew? This will be a grand experiment.   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

TODAY'S MOST-READ STORIES: 1. Cisco: its gear caused Duke's iPhone flooding 2. 11 corporate anthems to die for 3. HP to acquire Opsware in $1.6B deal 4. 12 IT skills that employers can't say no to 5. Hogwarts IT director quits 6. Microsoft 'silently' restores root certificates 7. Cisco facing up to challenges 8. Duke CIO releases statement on disruptions 9. Security team claims successful iPhone hack 10. Readers speculate on Duke's iPhone problem MOST E-MAILED STORY: Hogwarts IT director quits

Contact the author: Jeff Caruso is managing editor of online news for Network World. He oversees daily online news posting and newsletter editing, and writes the NetFlash daily news summary, the High-Speed LANs newsletter and the Voices of Networking newsletter. Contact him at jcaruso@nww.com This newsletter is sponsored by Cisco Best Practices for Extending Your Network Architecture Access podcasts, whitepapers and more that offer best practices and principles for extending your architecture across a campus. Learn about the design principles that will transform your campus net and how to tackle the critical areas of integrated security, unified network services and more. Click here to read now! ARCHIVE Archive of the LANs & Routers Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007