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Is That An OC-768 In Your Pocket?

bdigit writes: "Qwest communications using Nortel Networks OC-768 was able to transfer 40Gbps over 435 miles(700 km) breaking the record for the fastest land speed record. Qwest has plans to begin deploying OC-768's in quarter three of 2001." Note: if they need beta testers, just lemme know! I can write a mean bug report ("My pr0n is only getting 30gps! Please fix!")

128 comments

  1. Be thankful for what you have. by 42821128607675 · · Score: 1

    For most applications you really don't need even cable speed. As long as the times that you have to wait for things are about what the human attention spam has your perfectly fine. I use a 2400 bps link every day and find that it works reasonably for fetching and sending e-mail quite well. Downloading works better than kermit and at least with your own ip and lynx or w3m with SSL support is better than nothing and is often much better than all of the cruft that is en vouge today. I actually have never had access to something that fast so I really can't see unless you make it a personal habit of mirroring all the major ftp sites or run some form of server or you like to mail chain letters with DVD attatchments.

    --
    What is power if not for the furtherance of power. Power is a gift in it's own right and a means unto itself.
    1. Re:Be thankful for what you have. by Rhys+Dyfrgi · · Score: 1

      I have a cable modem.

      I use its speed for streaming video and browsing the web with graphics (yes, I do like the graphics, and yes, I have tried using a text browse, did so for 3 months straight until I got off my ass and got a mouse so I could use X effectively). And I know you can browse the web with a 2400 baud modem, I did that for a long time too, but it's hell, especially with some of the bloat on many websites today.

      I also use the speed so that I can do downloads within a reasonable length of time. I definitely transfer more in a day, disregarding web and my ftp server (for friends), than I could do with a 2400 baud modem.

      And then I also prefer cable to modems since it costs about 20 bucks more for an always on connnection at many times the speed. 150/80 is pretty damn good for 50 bucks a month; I could probably do better with DSL, but I haven't had time to do the research on it in my area.
      ---

      --
      END OF LINE
  2. Re:Mmmm, bandwidth. by TheReverand · · Score: 3
    Hey! Some of us have to put all our email on floppy disks and mail it!

    This message posted by CmdrTaco via U.S. Post Office.

  3. Or more accurately by 42821128607675 · · Score: 1

    3. When big businesses figure out that if they want anyone except CEOs and Saudi Arabian oil barons to buy them they are going to have to take the first step and wire American cities via themselves or the government to accomodiate access. You can't expect the average joe to finance something so damn expensive do you?

    --
    What is power if not for the furtherance of power. Power is a gift in it's own right and a means unto itself.
    1. Re:Or more accurately by scoof · · Score: 1

      That's complete BS, ISP's do invest longterm into providing DSL to the prices you see currently.
      Take it from one who actually does the calculations.
      Oh...and take a look at my tld...I'm not American

      --
      -- Andreas
    2. Re:Or more accurately by grumling · · Score: 1
      There's another reason for the cost of equipment being so high - a limited market. I worked for a company that found out it was cheaper to build our own equipment than to purchase from the 3 vendors (at the time - now there's only 1 and the first 3 are gone). It was estimated at the time that there were only about 12000 locations in the world that would be able to use said equipment (automated video playback devices). In order for them to make a profit, they had to charge through the nose. We then would have had to pass those charges on to the end customer to get the payback.

      So, don't look for prices on CO equipment to come down anytime soon. If anything, they will go up, due to the fact that consolidation in the telecom world is happening much faster than ever before.

      --
      "Well, good luck finding a judge that doesn't run a bestiality site."
  4. Re:Explain the OC & T numbers? by ZanshinWedge · · Score: 1

    I prefer this chart since it's slightly more detailed. Plus, it's not in a damn frame, ugh.

  5. Re:question... by Kynes23 · · Score: 1

    By the time that's a reality, we will be "your grandma," and quite comfortable with the notion of computers. ~L. Kynes

  6. Re:Of course he has no idea. by scoof · · Score: 1

    I am aware he isn't the right Bruce. And I'm also aware, that you've already got DSL, so it never could be you.
    But...to get back to the point, DSL is a huge investment to the Service Provider, which is why the geographic area is carefully selected.

    --
    -- Andreas
  7. Re:Cable is worthless by ZoneManSPW · · Score: 1

    Yep that will do the trick...

    Just like open access has so significantly increased the performance and reliability of DSL connections!

    No filtered ports - that means any dork with a Linux box becomes a spam relay...I don't think open access is gonna stop that.

    Static IP's - yep lets add ANOTHER layer of administration to the ISP - to track all of the IP addresses. What happens when network renumbering needs to be done, the ISP will have to call each user and have them switch IP addresses...

    Better service? 99% of trouble in cable networks is in the distribution nodes between the local "hub" and your house - those are still owned by the cable company and guess who still has to fix them? Reference the current DSL situation for a prime example of how responsive the ILEC's are to fixing problems for CLEC's.

    And of course, you'll be able to get AOL via open access - the fact that they are now in favor of open access is scary enough to me...

    ZoneMan

  8. oc-768 as a 'telco pipe' vs oc-768 as 'ip pipe' by porky_pig_jr · · Score: 1

    what Nortel gear has is OC-768 sonet pipe, but you still need a router operating at the same speed if you want to make it Internet backbone. At this time Juniper has OC-192, Cisco presumably will have it soon. Will Juniper have oc-768 interface in a year? Probably. This box really rocks. In any case, you have to understand one thing: all these rates, OC-192 (about 10Gbps) and OC-768 (about 40Gbps) is for Internet core only.

  9. Re:Impressive :) by namlhaz · · Score: 1

    ...Except that the first was OC-1.

    --
    Zahlman Q. Namlhaz, esq. {:> "Zahl Incorporated - the Last Word in Everything(TM)"
  10. Re:Missing something... by skybird0 · · Score: 1

    20 TB Library of Congress.

    Works out to be about a 2'x2'x2' cube filled with DVD-Roms. Fits into the trunk of a Miata, I would think.

    Boggles the mind.

  11. Not for public consumption by theseum · · Score: 1

    These sort of ultra high speed lines are not intended to ever be used by the public. They are for building backbones with (hence the 700km testing.) However, if you want really fast access to your home or buisiness, they might be coming out with 40 Mbps dedicated cable connections (by dedicated I mean that the bandwidth isn't shared with everyone else on your loop.) Or you could always lease a T3...

    1. Re:Not for public consumption by electricmonk · · Score: 3
      they might be coming out with 40 Mbps dedicated cable connections (by dedicated I mean that the bandwidth isn't shared with everyone else on your loop.)

      Yeah, it wouldn't be horribly expensive or anything for the cable company to rewire its entire system so that there is a dedicated line running from the cable company to each and every house it serves, now would it? And, surely, if it was, they wouldn't happen to pass that expense on to the customer, because they are decent people who don't care if they lose money, as long as the customer is happy, right?

      --
      Friends don't let friends use multiple inheritance.
  12. OC-n = (n = STS-1 = 51mb) * 768 or 48 or 12 or 3 by plastik_s · · Score: 5

    T1,T3 are transmission rates that descibe electrical interfaces. A T1 link is 1.5mb ( bits )
    T3 = 45mb. OC ( optical carrier ) is a BellCore
    description of transmission in SONET networks. ( Synchronous Optical Network ).

    The speed of OC-n is derived from the number of interleaved STS streams. STS-1 is 51mb per second
    All OC-n rates ( lowest is OC-3 which sts-1x3 ) are derived from a multiple of this.

    OC-768 = 768xSTS1 rate = 39168mb per second
    OC-48 = 48xSTS-1 rate = 2448mb per second
    OC-3 = 3xSTS-1 rate = 153mb per second

    OC-n rates can be described as concatenated ( a fat pipe ). or Channelized whereby an OC pipe contains multiple channels ( STS payloads )each
    of which can contain different payloads ( packets or atm cells ).
    Oc-3c is a concat. fat pipe.
    Oc-3 is a channelized pipe.

  13. Re:Mmmm, bandwidth. by jhittner · · Score: 3

    When I was your age we had to walk ten miles uphill both directions to get our email, and we loved it.

  14. Re:Ummm, am i missing something? by fluxrad · · Score: 2

    lol - i'm wearing my 'chicks dig unix' T-shirt with some cargo pants. and a Gameworks hat from seattle...

    there are only two things that get me hard bro - naked women that i'm about to have sex with and the 2.4.0 kernel - this article wasn't about either.


    FluX
    After 16 years, MTV has finally completed its deevolution into the shiny things network

    --
    "It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume
  15. Re:Impressive :) by softsign · · Score: 1
    Now IANALP (I Am Not A Laser Physicist) but the best analogy for an optical repeater I can think of off the top of my head is this: imagine a lake on a mountain. The lake has several rivers which flow down the mountain and each of these rivers splits off into smaller creeks and rivers. By the time you get down the mountain, you might not have much other than a small trickle of water. Now imagine you had a portable Niagara Falls that you could place at the base of the mountain to feed into the small stream. All of the sudden you've got a huge waterflow again and still in the same direction as the original stream. This is what optical repeaters do.

    These repeaters use something called an optical pump. It's basically a high-powered silicon laser that's injected into doped silica fibre. The process of pumping injects energy into the fibre and because of some fancy physics it happens to do so in phase with the original signal.

    The trouble with repeaters is that they're dumb. They'll amplify signal and noise equally.

    --

  16. Its the distance that makes it impressive by anticypher · · Score: 3

    OC-768 exists for short haul ATM and SONET connections inside a data centre. That is not a big deal in the communications world.

    Getting OC-768 DWDM with all of its little tricks to run for such a long distance between end points makes the promise of bigger and better backbones a reality. There are a ton of technical problems keeping the leading and trailing edges of the pulses of every different wavelength of light from degrading and interfering, and somehow managing to recover all the signals at the far end. 700Kms covers most any reasonable distance in Europe.

    It would be nice if /. posted links to a real news story, rather than print a company press release with no further informations for us to look at. This story surface a few months ago when a european partner of Qwest and Nortel were showing the technology at a trade show in Germany. They had a couple of spools of fibre totalling about 20kms, and were pumping some incredible level of data across it. They had also done a real world test between two German cities with a fibre running along side some train tracks.

    the AC

    --
    Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on
  17. Re: Man with a Hat got a Tan by Mondragon · · Score: 1

    Ok, I knew that, and I still spelled it wrong. Oops. :-)

    (and I just had to get a completely off-topic post in here somewhere, just because I wanna grow up to be an AC someday)

  18. FedEx still the highest bandwidth (just) by Howl · · Score: 2
    Forget library of congress as a metric - think FedEx truck full of tapes!

    From the useless stats dept.

    40 Gbits/sec = 216 Terabytes in 12 hours.

    If you put 1800 120GB DDS4 tapes in FedEx baggies you will move the same about of data (latency is not so good but that's not the point :-)

    Never underestimate the bandwidth of a truck load of tapes.

    --
    Never underestimate the bandwidth of a truck load of tapes
  19. It's about time! by evilviper · · Score: 1

    It's always nice to know that I can fill my hard drive in less than a second.

    --
    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  20. 30 gps pr0n? by divec · · Score: 2
    "My pr0n is only getting 30gps! please fix!"

    Waddayaneed more than 30gps for? a realtime tomographic video of her insides?
    --

    perl -e 'fork||print for split//,"hahahaha"'

    1. Re: 30 gps pr0n? by LilGuy · · Score: 1

      ahahaha I caught that too...

      --

      You're nothing; like me.
    2. Re: 30 gps pr0n? by TGR · · Score: 1

      Hey, some people might want lots of simultaneous direct feeds... Some might even want a virtual clusterfuck or two, with feedback. I'm sure we can figure out a way of using up those 30gps :)

      --

      Voting Moo Anyway!
    3. Re: 30 gps pr0n? by zeck · · Score: 1

      What about holographic display? Virtual reality? Fractal video? After all, we are talking about the future...

  21. Hey, I'd be glad to by LilGuy · · Score: 1

    Just gimme a call. Im sure it beats my cable all to hell and back. :P

    --

    You're nothing; like me.
  22. Mmmm, bandwidth. by kutulu42 · · Score: 2

    That's some nice bandwidth. If only having access to high bandwidth lines didn't cost retarded amounts of money, the Internet would be a far better place than it is now. Just imagine, if the last-mile bit was solved with high(er)-bandwidth lines everywhere, one wouldn't need cable or telephones..

    Utopia? Nah. Better? Yes.

    1. Re:Mmmm, bandwidth. by TGR · · Score: 1

      I'll complain when I have bouts of disconnections 5-7 times each day, each for about 5 minutes.

      (read, ISP in growing pains)

      --

      Voting Moo Anyway!
    2. Re:Mmmm, bandwidth. by CyberOptic · · Score: 4

      I really think you should stop complaining about cable. You are fortunate to have 512KB+ cable access. Me and ALOT others only have access to a regular 33.6 or 64 Kbps line and don't even stand a chance of getting cable or similar. Any way..Cable IS considered a high-speed access, and well...it actually is pretty fast, so please stop complaining, when you don't have anything to complain about.

    3. Re:Mmmm, bandwidth. by Rhys+Dyfrgi · · Score: 1

      Just because what zie has is better than what you have doesn't mean zie has to be happy with it.

      And zie did mention phone.

      And, for that matter, zie didn't even claim to have cable.
      ---

      --
      END OF LINE
    4. Re:Mmmm, bandwidth. by Eimi+Metamorphoumai · · Score: 1

      Lucky! We're still using punchcards and homing pigeons.

      --

      Visit me on #weirdness on the Galaxynet.

  23. How do they measure this??? by electricmonk · · Score: 1
    I mean, honestly, it would take either a huge disk array or a lot of RAM to be able to demonstrate speeds of 40Gbps anywhere.

    I'm just curious as to how they do this, does anyone know?

    --
    Friends don't let friends use multiple inheritance.
    1. Re:How do they measure this??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They don't have to COPY data. They just have to generate it. A program running on multiple computers can easily generate enough data to fill up a pipe like that.

    2. Re:How do they measure this??? by jivany · · Score: 1

      OK. First stop thinking in terms of computers and start thinking in terms of optical equipment.

      To get 40G signals they would have to mux four 10G (OC-192) signals onto a fiber which could then be fed into the OC-768 system. And of course, to get the OC-192 signal, they would need OC-48 or OC-12 subtending equipment being fed by DS-3 sources.

      Te get multiple 40G signals, they can do this miltiple times, or more likely they will just feed the same signal through the system on multiple wavelengths. It doesn't really matter as each wavelength is it's own "channel".

      --
      Really Bored?? http://ivany.org
    3. Re:How do they measure this??? by plastik_s · · Score: 1

      My guess is that they bundled OC48 traffic and split it at the far end ( edge switch -->oc768---> edge switch ). They could have used real voice/video data ( unlikely ) or probably had an ATM test cell sequence ( standard random bit content called PRBS sequences)in 16 OC-48 sreams ...which can be multiplexed into 4 x OC-192 streams...which is multiplexed into 1xOC-768 and demultiplexed in the same manor at the far end.

      SONET switches do not manipulate data streams in the same way as PC decodes IP packets. Special framing chips generate/decode the electrical stream which is the conversion of light to electrical. The chips decode the payload and send it to forwarding hardware which in turn sends to a backplane fabric and out to some other piece of similar hardware. Multiple custom ASICS provide a physical route for the data. At OC768 though the data stream is probably not touched at all just pure light to electrical job.

      The transmission is diskless and ramless in this context, especially since the generator equipment is creating payloads in hardware.

  24. We will always need keyboards by 42821128607675 · · Score: 1

    Considering that voice analysis isn't absolutely the best for things like code writing and typing there will always be the need for keyboards.

    --
    What is power if not for the furtherance of power. Power is a gift in it's own right and a means unto itself.
    1. Re:We will always need keyboards by T-Ranger · · Score: 1
      Currently, code is optomized for being produced on keyboards. Its not unresonably to predict that as voice recognition becomes better, we will have languages built around voice input.

      Perl is already a little like this (it was written by a linguist after all..) with the expression modifiers (ie some_expression if control_expression.

      Coding in COBOL would be nowhere near as bad if you could speek it :)

      But good typers can type faster than they can speek.. However unless your transcribing something, the input part is idle more often then the tinking part (be it code, or a letter to mom)... The thinking is the time consuming part.

    2. Re:We will always need keyboards by Coleco · · Score: 1

      But by that time we'll have super-intellegent robot slaves to do menial jobs like programming.

    3. Re:We will always need keyboards by tve · · Score: 1

      More important, how would you explain staying up all night mumbling to your computer to your (soon-to-be-ex)friends?

      Besides, I'd rather not talk for houres on end.

      O, and and I know another one: try shouting move left, jump and shoot at the same time to your computer when playing UT. That'll teach you... something.

      --

      If there is hope, it lies in the trolls.
    4. Re:We will always need keyboards by CBOS · · Score: 1

      Voice recognition should be just fine for codeing. Once compilers are written for voice codeing we will be able to tell the compiler what whe want the program to do and it will translate it into code for us.

    5. Re:We will always need keyboards by DrEldarion · · Score: 1

      They've already done experiements where they put electrodes on a guy and he was able to move a cursor around the screen just by thinking about it... (sorry, I forgot where I read that... no link :/ ) Anyways, I'm sure that eventually you'll just have a DataJack in your head (just like in ShadowRun!) where you'll just plug in a cable and you're all set.

      -- Dr. Eldarion --

    6. Re:We will always need keyboards by zeck · · Score: 1

      If we have super-intelligent robots to do our programming for us, they won't be our slaves; they'll be our masters. Not that that will necessarily be a bad thing.

    7. Re:We will always need keyboards by zeck · · Score: 1

      O, and and I know another one: try shouting move left, jump and shoot at the same time to your computer when playing UT. That'll teach you... something.

      You forget that a keyboard is also a suboptimal control system for computer games. Joystics and similar specifically designed controls provide a much easier to use interface than the kludge job of setting up a keyboard to control your gameplay.

    8. Re:We will always need keyboards by jafuser · · Score: 1

      Usually it is bad to use the words "always" or "never". Also avoid phrases ending in "... should be enough for anybody".

      --
      Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
    9. Re:We will always need keyboards by babbitt · · Score: 1

      My question to you, sir, is this: Do you really want /every/ joe-jockstrap causing chaos on his .net connection with MS's servers? Do you really *want* everyone to be able to code? It may be a elitiest thing for me to say, but I enjoy being the one that can coax non-working programs to work....that can code my own little app.

      --Ben

      --
      "AOL, CIA, NSA, whatever, they all collect information, and they are all out to screw the american public"
  25. Re:Impressive :) by wocky · · Score: 1

    Optical tends to go up by factors of four as well. 10 Gbps is the fastest version currently being widely deployed, 40 is coming, and 160 is in the R&D stage.

    --
    David
  26. More info inside Qwest by chris88 · · Score: 3

    2 clicks in and there's a whole page of information about this "record breaking" event.
    http://www.qwest.com/about/media/story.asp?id=28 8

  27. They use a ruler... (= by The+Evil+Beaver · · Score: 1

    They must have used some computers with terabyte hard drives. raid...

    --
    Chris 'coldacid' Charabaruk Meldstar Entertainment
  28. Re:Grades of fiber? by mikael_j · · Score: 1

    Single mode is thinner than multi mode, therefore the light doesn't "bounce" quite as much.

    Mikael Jacobson

    --
    Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
  29. Re:Ummm, am i missing something? by Cramer · · Score: 1

    Who said it was TDM? That system uses DWDM as well.

    TDM doesn't do squat to increase bandwidth -- if your hard drive is 4.5G, how you partition it isn't going to give you any more than 4.5G. Light travels at a certain speed through glass fiber. One can turn that light on and off only so fast. In order to increase bandwidth, one would have to either turn the light on/off faster (very difficult) or start using more than one light in the same cable.

    DWDM has practical limits in the photoreceivers. If the receiver cannot differentiate 730nm from 740nm... as selectivity increases, bandwidth increases proportionally.

  30. That's not a meaningful measurement by 42821128607675 · · Score: 1

    Since the library of congress is increasing it's collections each and every day you can't measure a quantity that really should be measured in absolute terms.

    --
    What is power if not for the furtherance of power. Power is a gift in it's own right and a means unto itself.
  31. Or are you just happy to C me? by Wah · · Score: 1

    har-de-har-har.

    Is there a way we can moderate headlines?
    --

    --
    +&x
    1. Re:Or are you just happy to C me? by Th3+D0t · · Score: 1
      Is there a way we can moderate headlines?

      No.
      ---

      --
      I am the dot in slashdot.org
  32. They actually hit 160 GBPS! by dorzak · · Score: 1
    I was just reading the press release on QWest and they have hit up to 160 Giga Bps!! Using something they called Dense-Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM).

    Of course that just sounds like some kind of compression system.

    1. Re:They actually hit 160 GBPS! by joeboo · · Score: 1

      DWDM is the process of dumping multiple wavelengths of light into a single fiber. DWDM has been in use for quite some time. The problem was how to get that many colors into a single fiber and then be able to detect it when it comes out the other side.

      --
      Joseph W. Breu
  33. Not So by def · · Score: 1

    Just how long do you expect it to take to write out 1800 120GB tapes? And to read them back in?

    You have to count that in the measurement as well.

    --
    WRCT Pittsburgh, 88.3FM
  34. That's such "diskist" thinking :-) by Howl · · Score: 1
    Why count the tape write time - perhaps the date is on tape to start with and the coms line would need to count tape read time ...

    BTW it would take 1000+ tape drives running at once to move that much data

    --
    Never underestimate the bandwidth of a truck load of tapes
  35. Re:Impressive :) by softsign · · Score: 1
    Erbium =)

    --

  36. Re:We will ^not always need keyboards (links) by Brandon+T. · · Score: 1

    Every one of those links I followed was dead. 'Use the Preview Button! Check those URLs! Don't forget the http://!)' The addresses got bunched in with the TARGET tag. Brandon

  37. Fastest record overall. by be-fan · · Score: 2

    Just so you know, the fastest record overall is 1.1 terabits per second over fiber. However, it was done in a labratory with the fiber coiled around pole. As for Qwest, I think these guys are just great. They have tons of fiber and are provide bandwidth to 70% of major cities. If they upgrade there network significantly with these lines, the internet in general should be much less congested.

    --
    A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
  38. Convicts = New source of Slave labour for networks by 42821128607675 · · Score: 1

    Think about if labour is an issue perhaps the application of convict populations to do the work and then all you have to worry about is the parts.

    --
    What is power if not for the furtherance of power. Power is a gift in it's own right and a means unto itself.
  39. To bad it's qwest.... by ctriv · · Score: 1

    Now I'm not going to step out on a limb and say that my experence is the rule with Qwest, but doesn't everybody that's had anything to do with them have a horror story. I went to a smell tech school (10 points if you can figure out which ;-) ), and that school was a circuit customer of Qwest.

    It was horrible. The router at the other end of the T-1's died, several times a week. They didn't recognize the school's circuit ID number. we had routing issues, links to other backbones died randomly, but wait!
    As long as you were inside Qwest's network, it was very very fast.... so I guess it will fix all of Qwest's problems to make that network faster yet.

    --
    -- Chris Reinhardt
  40. Re:Grades of fiber? by suss · · Score: 2

    One thing that Ive never had adequately explained to me is grades of fiber..

    It has something to do with bran muffins and being regular... Try this one

  41. Dosn't that dilute the signal? by 42821128607675 · · Score: 1

    I mean if you dump a bunch of water into your beer you don't get more beer just more diluted beer.

    --
    What is power if not for the furtherance of power. Power is a gift in it's own right and a means unto itself.
    1. Re:Dosn't that dilute the signal? by jwhyche · · Score: 1

      So what your saying is you would dilute your beer with more beer. what type of beer are we talking about here?

      --
      I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
    2. Re:Dosn't that dilute the signal? by softsign · · Score: 1
      Alexander Keith's... =)

      No, just kidding, you wouldn't need more beer. See, a beer-optical pump would use regular water and the interaction of the pump water and the signal-bearing beer would be such that the output of the pump would be pure beer - not diluted, just more beer. A beer amplifier.

      --

    3. Re:Dosn't that dilute the signal? by softsign · · Score: 1
      I didn't say there was a lake of Beer on the mountain. =) But for the sake of the analogy, if you did have a Beer Lake on the mountain, and you had rivers of beer, then the portable Niagara Falls would NOT dilute the beer. It would simply create more beer. This is why optical pumps are special.

      --

  42. Won't Help Peering. by ColonelNorth · · Score: 1

    While this speed boost from Qwest is a wonderful breakthrough, one I'm sure the other providers will follow up on as well, this doesn't help Internet conjestion much.
    Consider for a second that the vast majority of Internet Consumers use providers other than Qwest (whether it be UUnet, IBI/Digex, whomever) and still need to cross through peering points to go from network to network. These peering points, in general, are limited to OC-3 bandwidth... (Sometimes you can get FastEther, but that rarer). What good is an OC-768 when the weakest links in your connection are OC-3s. It's like having a T-1 bridge two OC-48 networks... So while you're stuck at MAE East, the Qwest customer hitting www.qwest.com will see it come down in blazing speed. Oh, I'm sorry, the customer only has a T-1 anyway.
    When they, and other providers, update those peering points to allow more bandwidth between providers, we can cut down on serious Internet bottlenecks. Until then, this OC-768 mess is worthless.

  43. Ahhh bandwidth by Burning1 · · Score: 1

    I dunno... It's always nice that the end users have fat pipes, but you can't don't forget guys like me, who shell out a lot of cash to put up servers. Currently, I'm co-located at a local ISP, tycho.net. I've got a full 42U rack, 8 Amps of UPS/Generator protected power, and a 10mbps switched Ethernet segment. Of the 10Mbps, I can use 640K 24/7, and burst to full speed for about 65 minutes a day (Yes, the 950 Kilobyte per second downloads rule :-). Unfortunately, all that comes at a price: $750 a month (And I don't bring in $100K a year.) Now chew on this this: for $50 a month, a DSL user who is close to their telco switch could easily suck my 640 dry, and I cant combat it in kind- I need the low latencies unavailable with sDSL, and the upstream bandwidth unavailable to aDSL. Even worse, someone using a work computer could pull the entire 10 megs, searching for movies, or dealing with files. Because of this, I'm forced to setup 30 Kilobyte per second bandwidth limits on each user. It will only get worse when everyone installs DSL (Note that I'm not worried about the cable modem users - self limiting ;-). Now, the flip side to this coin is that when fibre finally reaches the common household, greater connectivity will be reduced in price, though it still won't be as simple as the 56K days. This doesn't mean of course, that I will not appreciate DSL when it's finally installed at my house, but it does make things more interesting. Oh, I still have 30U of space left, if someone else wants to put up a box :-]

    1. Re:Ahhh bandwidth by Burning1 · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I really hammered that post into the dirt...

      Here we go again:

      I dunno... It's always nice that the end users have fat pipes, but you can't don't forget guys like me, who shell out a lot of cash to put up servers. Currently, I'm co-located at a local ISP, tycho.net. I've got a full 42U rack, 8 Amps of UPS/Generator protected power, and a 10mbps switched Ethernet segment. Of the 10Mbps, I can use 640K 24/7, and burst to full speed for about 65 minutes a day (Yes, the 950 Kilobyte per second downloads rule :-).

      Unfortunately, all that comes at a price: $750 a month (And I don't bring in $100K a year.)

      Now chew on this this: for $50 a month, a DSL user who is close to their telco switch could easily suck my 640 dry, and I cant combat it in kind- I need the low latencies unavailable with sDSL, and the upstream bandwidth unavailable to aDSL. Even worse, someone using a work computer could pull the entire 10 megs, searching for movies, or dealing with files.

      Because of this, I'm forced to setup 30 Kilobyte per second bandwidth limits on each user. It will only get worse when everyone installs DSL (Note that I'm not worried about the cable modem users - self limiting ;-).

      Now, the flip side to this coin is that when fibre finally reaches the common household, greater connectivity will be reduced in price, though it still won't be as simple as the 56K days. This doesn't mean of course, that I will not appreciate DSL when it's finally installed at my house, but it does make things more interesting.

      Oh, I still have 30U of space left, if someone wants to put up a box :-]

      Remind me to look before I leap.

  44. Re:I'm not impressed by qqaz · · Score: 1

    Line noise, baby!

    --
    sup :cool:
  45. Re:Sisco is misinformed by jafuser · · Score: 1

    Actually I meant to make a pun to the name of the router company, but I guess that is the way the character's name is spelled. As far as spelling captain incorrectly, I plead guilty :)

    --
    Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
  46. Sisco is misinformed by 42821128607675 · · Score: 1

    Just because you ferry more data around dosn't mean you need supposedly "better" software (that IBM just happens to be selling). Standard unixy stuff works well and scales as long as you have hardware tol support the data processing.

    --
    What is power if not for the furtherance of power. Power is a gift in it's own right and a means unto itself.
    1. Re:Sisco is misinformed by Fred+Ferrigno · · Score: 1

      In the midst of your Star Trek spelling lesson you misspelled captain.

    2. Re:Sisco is misinformed by jafuser · · Score: 1

      That would be "Captian Cisco".

      --
      Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
  47. Re:I'm a parent soon. I can hear myself saying... by dthable · · Score: 2

    Our 56K will still outperform any 40Gbps lines in the future because by MS .net server will be in a perpetual crashed state.

  48. Re:Impressive :) by electricmonk · · Score: 1
    Installing repeaters would only slow the network down dramatically, as it would mean that the fiber optic signal would have to travel through electronics at some time, and thus, it would be slowed enough to make using fiber optics at all pointless.

    Agilent Technologies is working on a solutio n for switching these signals without them passing through an electronic switch, but I think repeaters are fundamentally electronic, if I'm not mistaken.

    --
    Friends don't let friends use multiple inheritance.
  49. Re:Impressive :) by TBC · · Score: 3

    Actually at this point, you are mistaken. I was just reading an article on optical amplifiers. Basically you dope a length of fiber with rare-earth elements, use a laser to pump the elements in an excited state. Then when the signal comes in on one end, it causes a percentage of the excited atoms to lase, resulting in an increase of signal. It's not a whole lot different from how a HeNe laser tube works. Since it's all optical, you don't have a speed bottleneck. The big issue now is how to pump more power into that fiber. (More power = longer distances) They are approaching the ability to push 1 watt of power into the fiber. That may not sound like much, but when you push it through single-mode fiber, the resulting energy density is ~10 times that of the surface of the sun. If the glass isn't "perfect" it can start to melt. If you don't have the fiber attenuated by the time it gets to the far end, you can actually damage your detector in these new systems.

    Ain't quantum mechanics fun?

  50. How T1, T3, and OC3 rates work. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 3

    Can anyone explain to everyone here how the T1 & T3 and OC3 rates work?

    Sure. I've been architecting an ASIC for an "edge router" for the last year, and I've had to live and breathe this stuff.

    ENORMOUSLY simplified:

    DSn (n= 1, 1C, 2, 3, 4NA) refer to data format standards. Tn (n= 1, 1C, 2, 3, 4NA) refer to standards for carrying those formats on wires. Similarly, STS-n and OC-n refer to the SONET standards for data formats and carrying them on an optical fiber, respectively.

    These are standards for US/Canada. Japan is virtually identical (Jn; n=1, ...). Europe did something similar but incompatable, of course. B-)

    For data only a few are in common use. These are:

    Unchannelized T1/DS1
    Unchannelized T3/DS3
    STS-n/OC-n n=1, 3, 12, 24, 48, ...

    The basic quantum of data is 8,000 8-bit bytes ("octets") per second (nicknamed a "DS0"). This is 64,000 bits per second, enough for one phone call. (Some phone equipment steals one bit out of the byte every 6 frames for signaling {ring, dialing, off-hook}, making one of the bits untrustworthy, which is part of why modems maxed out at about 56,000 BPS rather than 64,000.) And yes, that IS a decimal 8,000, not 8K.

    DS1/T1 packs one bit of overhead and 24 bytes of payload into a 193-bit "frame". A T1 feed will typically be "unchannelized" - you get to use the 24 bytes. So the data rate is 1.544 Mhz, and you get to use 1.536 Mbps. For PPP the data will typically be HDLC packets, but some applications will use ATM cells (stuffed with packets fragmented according to the AAL5 standard). The data packaging and protocols will consume some of that remaining bandwidth.

    (ISDN come in two flavors. One ("primary rate"?) uses a T1 but steals one of the 24 DS0s for signaling. The other ("base rate"?) is a format similar in style to a T1, but with the payload stripped down to 2 DS0 channels plus a narrow signaling channel. ISDN makes "digital phone calls" of DS0 bandwidth. Typical equipment can make multiple calls and use MultiLink PPP to combine them into a bigger pipe.)

    Higher rates were originally designed to pack up and carry lower rates. A "channelized" DS2 carries 4 DS1s, a DS3 carries 7 DS2s (i.e. 28 DS1s). But if you buy a point-to-point DS3 you can also use it "unchannelized":

    An unchannelized DS3/T3 runs at 44.736 MHz. One bit in 85 is used for overhead, and the rest are payload, so you get about 44.21 Mhz raw bandwidth. Again your typical PPP feed will use HDLC, but an ISP talking to a DSLAM will use ATM cells. If he expects to do voice-over-packet he might use the "PLCP mapping" of the ATM cells into the DS3 to trade away about 4% of the bandwidth to pass timing information to the DSLAM. (T1 clock rates are tightly synchronized, to keep the DS0s - which are the voice sampling rate - synchronized, preventing "clicks" in your phone. T3 rates are very accurate, but NOT tightly synchronized. A click every three days is acceptable. A click every few minutes is not.)

    An OC-1/STS-1 has, per second:
    - 8000 frames, each composed of
    - 9 rows, each composed of
    - 90 octets.
    For a total bit rate of 51.84 Mhz. The first three octets in each row are used for overhead related to alligning and tranporting the data. The rest is payload. Depending on what the payload IS, perhaps one byte per row might be used for overhead there, as well.

    The payload is allowed to "float" within the 87*9 non-overhead bytes of the framing structure, so that when it hops from one framing to another the box where it hops doesn't need a big buffer to get it alligned, and so things don't break if the boxes' clocks drift. Part of the 3-bytes-per-row overhead is a pointer showing where the start of the payload's frame is currently located within the STS frame.

    You'll notice that the STS-1 rate is similar to the T3 rate, and that's NOT an accident. The SONET standard was designed to interface with the existing phone network, and the T3 was the layer where they started. One of the many possible payloads of an OC-1/STS-1 is a DS3. So for raw usable data rates think OC-1 = T3. You'll be dead on if it's carrying a T3, and real close if it's carrying something else.

    An STS-n/OC-n is N times the STS-1/OC-1 rate, and carries N times the payload. Unlike the DSn hierarchy, which has separate standards for each layer, SONET defines a general mechanism for higher rates. So the particular rates that are of interest are the ones for which equipment manufacturers chose to build the equipment.

    The format of an STS-n is just N STS-1s, with their framing alligned, interleaved by byte, i.e. the first byte from STS-1 number one, then the first from from STS-1 number 2, and so on for N bytes. Then the second byte from STS-1 nubmer 1, and so on forever.

    There are two flavors of combining them. An STS-n/OC-n is N separate STS-1/OC-1 channels. An STS-nC/OC-nC is a single channel: There are still N STS-1 framing strucures, but a single payload is smeared out across all of them.

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  51. Re:We will ^not always need keyboards (links) by techfreak · · Score: 3

    DrEldarion wrote "They've already done experiements where they put electrodes on a guy and he was able to move a cursor around the screen just by thinking about it... (sorry, I forgot where I read that... no link :/ ) "

    Here's some links to articles about that:

    " Anyways, I'm sure that eventually you'll just have a DataJack in your head (just like in ShadowRun!) where you'll just plug in a cable and you're all set. "

    Sounds like fun to me! ;-)

    Impossible means no one's done it yet.

    --


    ---
    Impossible means no one's done it yet.
  52. Re:Missing something... by donny · · Score: 1


    I assume you're referring to a digital reproduction of the contents of the Library of Congress.

    I sure hope you aren't transferring the books, or (heaven forbid) the actual Library! That would take at least a couple months.

    Donny

  53. Re:We will ^not always need keyboards (links) by Godfree^ · · Score: 1

    AS long as it comes with decent anti virus.

    --
    - Damnit, I'm dead Jim
  54. Re:Ummm, am i missing something? by Rhys+Dyfrgi · · Score: 1

    The press release says it was TDM.
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  55. With SONET overhead it's 155, by plastik_s · · Score: 1

    I think if you include the SONET headers yes 155 megabits per second...If you mean the payload...its 153.

  56. Need for last-mile improvements!! by Jeff+Nelson · · Score: 1

    I, for one, am getting damn tired of my 1.5 meg dsl. In my new house, i had fiber optic cable installed to the alley, where it is waiting for the missing last-mile fiber provider. It would be great to have a neighborhood LAN, and to be able to play various games with the entire town at 1-2ms pings :) Not to mention that 30gps porn problem, just need a huge hard disk array and a sniffer/packet grabber to snarf all of the porn that the entire neighborhood looks at. Then i'll be able to make one of those little matrix-folder-with-a-string on all of my neighbors. -Jeff

  57. 400 wavelengths by tjackson · · Score: 1

    My cousin works at Nortel on this stuff. He was telling me that the OC-768 system that HE was working on employed 400 wavelengths of light on a single line.

  58. Re:question... by Detritus · · Score: 1

    It's about 1.5 gigabit/sec, which is about the same rate as uncompressed HDTV, which can be compressed down to 19 megabit/sec.

    --
    Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
  59. I'm a parent soon. I can hear myself saying... by hardaker · · Score: 5

    "In my day, sonny, we only had a 64kbps connection to my house. Thats right. And that's when I was already an adult. Now every house comes with a standard 40Gbps line. Aren't you special. You don't know what its like to have to wait for your keystrokes to be echoed back to your terminal screen. Oh, sorry, you don't even know what a keyboard is do ya. Get outta here."

    --
    The next site to slashdot will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and start slashdotting it early!
  60. Missing something... by tbo · · Score: 4

    Where's the obligatory conversion of 40Gbps into X Libraries of Congress/second?

    1. Re:Missing something... by paqsys · · Score: 1

      Captain Sisko had other obligations at the time....Something about converting all the IBM Servers to Linux

    2. Re:Missing something... by Rhys+Dyfrgi · · Score: 3

      It would take 16 minutes and 40 seconds to transfer the entire 20 TB Library of Congress.
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  61. Impressive :) by aTRaTiCa · · Score: 1
    Nortel Networks' scalable 40 to 80Gbps platform was introduced at Telecom '99 in Geneva last October, where it was the first 80Gbps platform to be demonstrated in a non-laboratory environment. The Nortel Networks global platform, planned for commercial availability in 2001, is expected to have the ability to scale as high as 6.4 terabits per second.

    6.4 terabits per second? 800,000,000 meg a second? That'd be rather impressive.

    Anyways, I wonder how attenuation will be for these cables. Is 428 some miles the maximum? That's impressive compared the the meters measured for fiber optic. Can repeaters be installed to incresase the distance even if necessary? I could see this implemented around the world.

    Who knows, maybe in a few years we'll be seeing oc-1024k's :-)

    Yay, go future

    --
    ------- What exactly is real?
    1. Re:Impressive :) by softsign · · Score: 1
      Installing repeaters would only slow the network down dramatically, as it would mean that the fiber optic signal would have to travel through electronics at some time, and thus, it would be slowed enough to make using fiber optics at all pointless.

      Not necessarily, electro-optic repeaters, if you use WDM, can probably process signals in parallel without that much delay at the repeater.

      Not only that, you said yourself work is being done on purely optical switches. I mean, a switch is basically a smart repeater, so if you can make an optical switch, by definition you can make an optical repeater.

      --

    2. Re:Impressive :) by softsign · · Score: 1
      I just re-read this and realized I was describing optical amplifiers. My bad.

      Not that it doesn't apply... it's just that purely optical repeaters would re-generate the signal in addition to amplifying it.

      --

    3. Re:Impressive :) by Cramer · · Score: 1

      If you read closely (or the right document), you'll see the "trick" being used: DWDM. This thing is using on the order of 400 different frequencies of light over the same cable. Alot of people do this type of thing already -- to the tune of 4 lambda.

      As for distance, I'm sure there is some practical limit just like every thing else. Yes, there are optical "repeaters" -- technically, it's not repeating anything; it's just boosting intensity. I've had the device explained to me twice, but I've never seen one. It really doesn't make sense, but it was explained as sorta bridging a pure white light source into the end of the fiber to boost the signal(s). [don't bother asking, I don't understand it well enough to explain it any better.]

    4. Re:Impressive :) by SamBaughman · · Score: 1
      Actually.... The n in an OC-n will be 3*(4^x), with the exception of OC-1. Therefore, we are currently at 3*(4^4). Therefore, the next step up from an OC-768 (n=3*4^4) is OC-3072 (n=3*4^5).

      Or we can call this an OC-3k and simplify the numbers as we continue up the scale. My job is making ATM network testers, and I really don't want to be talking about OC-Thirty-Seventy-Two connections in my meetings, but OC-Three-Kay works for me.

      But the Europeans have it a bit better, as they get rid of the silly factor-of-three (which is due to the DS3 standard) and base their STM-1 on an E4 of data (140 megabit). So, STM-n where n=4^x. An OC-768 is equal to an STM-256, and the next generation will be STM-1024. Gets us back to those nice computer-ish numbers. Just to make the OC-1024 poster feel a bit better.

    5. Re:Impressive :) by CyberOptic · · Score: 1

      Maybe you should do some more calculations...6.4 Terabit IS NOT 800,000,000 megaBYTES pr. sec...Are you out of your mind....

    6. Re:Impressive :) by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 3
      Who knows, maybe in a few years we'll be seeing oc-1024k's :-)

      Actually, you'll never see OC-1024s. The n in OC-n is an integer, roughly equivalent to the number of DS-3s of bandwidth of the connection. For technical and historical reasons, n will always be 3*(2^x), where x is an integer.

      Therefore, the next step up from OC-768 (n=3*2^8) is OC-1536 (n=3*2^9).

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
  62. Explain the OC & T numbers? by Rader · · Score: 1
    OC-768? Cool. I wonder if they'll do what Excite @Home is doing and start charging different rates for "preferred" service?

    Can anyone explain to everyone here how the T1 & T3 and OC3 rates work? I know that OC3 vs. T3 is a difference in Digital only for OC...

    We work at a small software company and just got a fraction T1 line in. So we did the math, knowing what a T1 can push. But we realized that a T3 wasn't only 3 times faster than a T1? It was much more. What is the difference? And while we're at it, maybe someone can explain what an OC3 gets vs. Napster's OC-48, and now with the OC-768?

    I'd really appreciate it, and would love to know once and for all the correct answer so that we quit guessing around here. Thanks!

    Rader

    1. Re:Explain the OC & T numbers? by BilldaCat · · Score: 2

      There's a bandwidth chart at the bottom of Bandwidth.com.

      --
      BilldaCat
    2. Re:Explain the OC & T numbers? by Cephas+Aurelius · · Score: 1

      As far as T vs. DS numbers, the value of data is the same. A T-1 is a DS-1 provisioned on copper, as is a T-3. At one job, we started with six T-1, then moved to an OC-3 with two fractional DS-3's provisioned on it.

      If I am not mistaken, a DS-3 is roughly equivalent to 28 DS-1's. A DS-1 is roughly equivalent to 24 DS-0's (64000 bps/ea)

  63. need for speed by paqsys · · Score: 1

    I remember when my trusty 2400 baud serial modem was my hotrod. Now I get my knickers in a bunch when my dsl pipe is running a bit too slow. Looking to the future these types of break neck speeds are going to be a necessity, with ASPs popping up all over the place and more and more companies and individuals wanting to do more on the web than ever before. It would be really nice to save an encrypted backup of my hard drive to some remote server in an instant.

    1. Re:need for speed by scoof · · Score: 1

      Actually Cisco is able to MUX 128 channels in a fibre, with 10GigE coming around the corner it's beginning to sound interesting :)

      Take a look at this and this, which is a live demo of the products involved (even though they're only pulling OC192 in that demo)

      --
      -- Andreas
  64. Fastest single signal by Rhys+Dyfrgi · · Score: 4
    This is only the fastest single signal, it isn't the fastest single fiber system. Of course, if they increase the number of signals above the 4 they mention on their press release to the maximum 80 allowable by DWDM, then they can get up to 3.2tbps (terrabits per second) over a single fiber.

    Of course, as this part of a tutorial indicates that higher bitrates allow for fewer channels, getting 80 might not be possible, so we may just have to settle for `only' 160gbps.
    ---

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    END OF LINE
  65. Ummm, am i missing something? by fluxrad · · Score: 1

    is slashdot going to post a story every time someone at Qwest takes a dump or what?

    This article was posted a little over a month ago about how the guys at Qwest did a hundred mile round trip at 40Gbs. Is this really that much more signifigant? It just seems to me that this is the /. equivalent of a front page headline about how Bell called his other assistant a little over a month after he phoned the first one. The overwhelming response from the telephone using public "Whooptie shit!"


    FluX
    After 16 years, MTV has finally completed its deevolution into the shiny things network

    --
    "It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume
    1. Re:Ummm, am i missing something? by Rhys+Dyfrgi · · Score: 1

      However, that previous article was about a link that used TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) and had multiple signals multiplexed to reach the 40Gbps mark. This signal is a pure 40Gbps signal, and they are multiplexed together using DWDM (Dense Wave Division Multiplexing) to reach a full 160Gbps. So yes, it is significant.

      press release by KPNQwest, the company of the previous article.
      ---

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    2. Re:Ummm, am i missing something? by esobofh · · Score: 1

      Ahh buddy.. this is the exact essence of Slashdot.. geek stuff.. this makes all our cocks hard.. if your sitting their limp still you better start hanging around a different bulletin board. If Slashdot didn't report on this, it would cease to 'be' slashdot. News for nerds, stuff that matters. You're wearing a tie.. aren't you? I CAN SMELL IT!

      ----------------------------

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      Esobofh - Currently drinking fresh mango juice.
  66. I'm not impressed by qqaz · · Score: 1

    If this is what we are capable of, then why can I only connect at 26400 bps?

    --
    sup :cool:
  67. Qwest *not* the first to OC-768 by Mondragon · · Score: 1

    A small company named Enkido was the first to ever offer OC-768 transit, in Manhatten, back in May.

    What's even better, if you're talking last mile, you should move to Manhatten, where Enkido has that OC-768 service within 200 feet of *anywhere* on the island (they have 3500 miles of fibre on the island). As with Qwest, they're carrying 40Gbps on a single lamba (wavelength), so they currently peak out at 6.4Tbps, although hopes of ever *routing* that are pretty low at this point.

  68. question... by BeerHunter · · Score: 1

    What's the data rate thru your monitor cable for 1024x768 32bit color @ 60fps? With this kinda bandwidth, I wonder if one day it'd be possible for people who don't want the 'hassle' of having a computer (read: your grandma) to just plug a monitor, kb, and mouse into the wall...

  69. Qwest sucks by rjbrown99 · · Score: 1

    If Qwest can't even keep a simple point-to-point T1 up, how are they going to deal with OC-768??? Our T-1 goes down multiple times a week due to their incompetence. Router reboots, network outages, and any other excuse they can come up with. And our link is in a major metropolitan city. Save your money. Go buy your link from someone else.

  70. Re: Man with a Hat got a Tan by techwatcher · · Score: 1

    If you're talking about New York, NY -- that's spelled "Manhattan." If you're not, please tell me so I can leave here for there!

  71. moderate: +294811562434, Funny by mgX · · Score: 1

    oh my side..

    --
    -mg.
  72. Re:The average person will never afford these by kwerkey · · Score: 1

    Um *cough* Look at the television. When it first came out, they were black and white and were the signature of the rich. Now everyone has at least one in color and many are getting digital cable and sattellite. Within 20 years, bums will have access to personal wireless T3 lines =P

  73. Hmm...... by kwerkey · · Score: 1

    I think that the real problem is that many companies don't have computers with harddrives that fast.

  74. doood you don't understand! by esobofh · · Score: 1

    this article is directly about the 2.4.0 kernel.. specificaly how you can get it downloaded as fast as possible. Now do you understand the relevance?

    ----------------------------

    --

    ----------------------------
    Esobofh - Currently drinking fresh mango juice.
  75. There are a few downsides to that by 42821128607675 · · Score: 1

    Then software vendors have a perfect solution to piracy just have a whole massive game that takes 10 CDs be downloaded over the net for one time use for a single period of playing in just 5 minutes. This is a bad thing that anyone could do with time.

    --
    What is power if not for the furtherance of power. Power is a gift in it's own right and a means unto itself.
  76. Just a helpful suggestion by PD · · Score: 1

    > Note: if they need beta testers, just lemme
    > know! I can write a mean bug report ("My pr0n is
    > only getting 30gps! Please fix!")

    My friend, if 30Gps of pr0n isn't enough then maybe it's *you* that needs to be fixed...

    Didn't Bill Gates say that 640Kps of pr0n ought to be enough for anybody?

  77. Its pretty simple, actually by fred_the_slow · · Score: 1

    The best way to generate 40Gbps, as everyone knows, is by using thousands of trained monkeys typing on thousands of typewriters.

    If you give them enough time, you will also get Hamlet as a by-product.

  78. Impostor by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 1

    He's not me. Note the "." following the user name.

  79. Of course he has no idea. by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 2
    If he were really Bruce Perens, he'd have a bit more understanding of transmission-line theory, RF, optoelectronics, what belongs in a point-of-presence and how the signal gets there, etc.

    Bruce

  80. Grades of fiber? by T-Ranger · · Score: 1

    One thing that Ive never had adequately explained to me is grades of fiber.. I understand the difference beteween single mode and multi mode fiber, but is upgrading a fiber instalation just swapping out the trancevers? (connectors asside) Or do you have to worry about quality of the light pipe?

  81. The average person will never afford these by 42821128607675 · · Score: 1

    There has to be a large infrastructure to support it and also that means extremely high implimentation costs. That's why I am stuck with a modem and only billionarires are using massive bandwidth pipes. Also with telcos charging up the ass for T-1's I don't think that this will change anything just how much more they can charge the big guys. Also don't you consider an application that someone else controls a bad thing? Last I checked it's far far better to own a think than to borrow on a per use basis. I will never "borrow" any of my software even if that means using linux for the rest of my life.

    --
    What is power if not for the furtherance of power. Power is a gift in it's own right and a means unto itself.
  82. Re:When by scoof · · Score: 2

    You obviously don't have any idea of what equipment transporting these amounts of data costs. And how expensive it is to set up a local DSL-POP.
    bottm-line: broadband-services costs more money than consumers are willing to pay, and since this is a market-driven world, that will only change when either of two happens:
    1. People are willing to pay more to get more
    2. Prices on equipment drop

    --
    -- Andreas