Gigabit Ethernet Wave Picks Up Speed

ENT, Nov 19, 1997 by Jim LeFevre

Bandwidth-intensive applications are forever taxing network infrastructures. Trying to ride that wave of obsolescence, industry advocacy group Gigabit Ethernet Alliance (Cupertino, Calif.) is making a pitch to convert networks starved for bandwidth to Gigabit Ethernet now.

The Gigabit Ethernet Alliance, which was founded in May 1996 with 11 members, now comprises 120 networking and computer companies united around a series of common goals: to fully support the IEEE 802.3z Gigabit Ethernet standard, to agree on 802.3z technical specifications, to establish and demonstrate product interoperability, and to preach Gigabit Ethernet as a viable and desirable technology.

At the Networld Interop show recently held in Atlanta, it looked as if the alliance's goals were well on their way to fruition. A Gigabit Ethernet network, comprising Gigabit Ethernet products from 24 alliance members, was up and running various high-bandwidth-intensive MPEG 2 video and multimedia applications. Gigabit Ethernet switches, aggregating switches, network interface cards, test equipment and network management were all wired together using 1000Base-SX, one of the fiber physical layer options described in the current IEEE 802.3z/D3.1 draft for Gigabit Ethernet.

"You've got this highly visible show demonstration, with companies spending millions on solutions, and they're relying on Gigabit Ethernet. The point is [Gigabit Ethernet] is very real, and it's really interoperable," says Peter Rauch, vice president of marketing for Jato Technologies Inc. (Austin, Texas), a Gigabit Ethernet chip design firm and Gigabit Ethernet Alliance member.

One major concern with Gigabit Ethernet is that the IEEE 802.3z standard is not complete, and there is no guarantee that current prestandard Gigabit Ethernet products will be compatible with products released after the standard has been finalized. The Networld Interop display is a response to those companies that are truly hungry for the bandwidth that Gigabit Ethernet provides but might be hesitant to incorporate prestandard hardware.

Robert M. Grow, vice chair and technical liaison of the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance and industry relations vice president of networking hardware company XLNT (San Diego), maintains that Gigabit Ethernet is ready for the enterprise, even though a final standard may be several months away: "This demonstration shows real products supporting real applications at wire speed, while interfacing to legacy technologies, including Ethernet, fast Ethernet and FDDI." According to the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance, the final version of IEEE 802.3z is on track for the first quarter of 1998.

Gigabit Ethernet Alliance members are quick to add that most products will offer some sort of upgrade path if any compatibility issues arise. "Most of the industry has already gone through [compatibility conflicts] with 10Base-T. Companies do not want to sell their brand-new technology and then leave their customers hanging," says Brian MacLeod, director of marketing for Gigabit Ethernet hardware manufacturer Packet Engines (Spokane, Wash.).