10 Gigabit Ethernet Goes Metro

10 Gigabit Ethernet Goes Metro

2002 was a momentous year. That’s when the datacom and telecom industries adopted the 10 Gigabit Ethernet standard, IEEE 802.3ae. In one fell swoop they managed to increase network speeds AND operating distance AND they achieved interoperability among network devices in the LAN, MAN and WAN environments. Whew!

Of particular importance was the migration of Ethernet from the LAN (Local Area Network) to the MAN (Metro Area Network). That was made possible, in part, by the high speeds attainable under the new 10 Gig standard.

Implementation was a breeze. Cities simply lit dark fiber already in place. Transmission was done via DWDM over long-wavelength dark frequencies. Suddenly, there was city wide access to fiber operating at up to 60 Gig speeds that enterprise networks and service providers could easily tap into.

Dealing with the MAN

With all that bandwidth standing just outside your door, should you tap into it? If your network is Ethernet, the answer is definitely yes! You will have a seamless data link to the rest of the country. No protocol changes or packet conversions required!

To take full advantage of the bandwidth available under the 10 Gig Ethernet Standard, you’ll want to have a 10 Gig backbone. Your choice is singlemode cable, which can easily handle the speed and distances required under the standard. Or, you can use the new 50um multimode cable, which provides extended transmission distances without the more expensive electronics required of singlemode transmission.

To upgrade your Ethernet network to the 10 Gig Standard, you will need to replace older hubs with switches. The cost of 10 Gig switches have come down in price in recent years, making the upgrade to 10 Gig viable for many enterprise networks. If you already have a singlemode backbone, it probably meets data rates and transmission distances required under the 10 Gig Standard. If you have a backbone made of legacy multimode fiber, you’ll have to replace that, either with a singlemode backbone, or with one of the fewer 50um multimode fibers referenced above.

Do You Really Need a 10 Gig Backbone?

The growth of gigabit-to-the-desktop continues to drive demand for core upgrades. As our cartoon suggests on page 1, investing now will pay dividends over the long run.

What about networks that haven’t yet adopted Ethernet, let alone 10 Gig Ethernet? For them, this is a great opportunity to catch up with the rest of the world. In terms of speed and bandwidth. the new 10 Gig Standard is a major leap beyond the previous Ethernet standard. Even if you don’t need 10 Gig now, this “excess capacity” can serve your needs for years to come. It will help you to avoid a series of expensive upgrades and the resulting disturbances to your network. It also enables you to adopt new productivity tools that come along, which can contribute to operating efficiency and improve competitiveness.

Ethernet Advantages for Enterprise Networks

Ethernet technology has been with us for over 25 years. Each generation of Ethernet built upon the success of earlier Ethernet standards and revolutionized modern networks. Key benefits of Ethernet technology include:

• Scalability-10 Mbps to 10 Gbps
• Easy migration to higher performance levels
• Interoperability among system components
• Multi-vendor support
• Familiar network management systems and procedures
• Support for new applications and data types
• Flexibility in network design
• Backwards compatibility

Added to the above advantages are those of the newest 10 Gig Ethernet Standard. These advantages include:

Higher Speed - 10 Gig Ethernet offers speeds up to 10 billion bits per second.
Broad Support - Equipment vendors are busy designing Ethernet equipment that is compatible between LANs, MANs and WANs. Companies can now confidently deploy 10 Gigabit Ethernet in their corporate backbones, knowing that the standard with support their data centers, server farms and other high-bandwidth applications.
Decentralization - There is a trend for LANs to evolve into MANs as they grow over time. Supported by the 10 Gig Standard, a LAN can now operate over istances of up to 40 km. That provides system designers with tremendous flexibility regarding where to locate data centers, server farms and mainframe computers. computing resources are no longer limited to large mainframes, but can be contained in distributed server clusters.

Other Applications

Having 10 Gig backbones in place enables enterprise networks to support Gigabit Ethernet applications in workstations and desktops. These include those applications requiring high-resolution graphics and video such as medical imaging, large IP network camera systems, and interactive video conferencing. Long distance applications include monitoring of industrial controls, remote sensors, and security surveillance.

Advantages to Service Providers

10 Gig Ethernet extends the benefits of Ethernet technology beyond the LAN to the MAN and more recently, to the WAN (Wide Area Network). Amazingly, the 10 Gigabit Ethernet Standard achieves the speed of the fastest WAN technology, namely OC-192.

With Ethernet in the WAN, data can now leave an Ethernet port in New York and arrive at an Ethernet port in California without requiring a packet conversion anywhere in between.

This streamlined approach greatly simplifies data transmission, and reduces network infrastructure and management costs. The end result is lower costs to service providers and end users alike.