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Corporate Data Centers As Ethernet's Next Frontier
alphadogg writes with a story that's about the possibilities for the next generation(s) of Ethernet, stuff far beyond 10base-T: "Ethernet has conquered much of the network world and is now headed deep into the data center to handle everything from storage to LAN to high-performance computing applications. Cisco, IBM and other big names are behind standards efforts, and while there is some dispute over exactly what to call this technology, vendors seem to be moving ahead with it, and it's already showing up in pre-standard products. 'I don't see any show-stoppers here — it's just time,' says one network equipment-maker rep. 'This is just another evolutionary step. Ethernet worked great for mundane or typical applications — now we're getting to time-sensitive applications and we need to have a little bit more congestion control in there.'"
20baseU. Some hotshot near me is trying 30baseV - show off!
The derivation of "ethernet" is quite interesting.
Ether - from the chemical compound Diethyl Ether, an anaesthetic.
Net - meaning 'full of holes'.
I think that's right.
http://twitter.com/onion2k
"Ethernet has conquered much of the network world and is now headed deep into the data center to handle everything from storage to LAN to high-performance computing applications."
Ethernet? Used for LAN? Jeepers, who'd ever have though of using Ethernet for THAT! I bet it'll be much faster than my 300-baud modem! And we can even connect storage devices to it!
From the article:
"Ethernet is not optimized to provide the service required for storage and high-performance computing traffic -- speed alone won't cut it, vendors say. Ethernet, which drops packets when traffic congestion occurs, needs to evolve into a low latency, "lossless" transport technology with congestion management and flow control"
Q: Packet loss and traffic congestion are to Ethernet as:
A) blue screens are to Windows
B) registers are to assembly
C) mustard is to sausages
"Creationists make it sound as though a 'theory' is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night." -Asimov
I agree. I don't want any of this "doesn't drop packets" Ethernet either. Packet loss is critical to a number of my in-house applications.
'a';DROP TABLE users; SELECT * FROM DATA WHERE name LIKE '%'... if you're reading this, it didn't work.
You can have Ethernet Classic and New Ethernet!
AND...
If New Ethernet is a dud, you can say it was a marketing gimmick to get people to drink... err, switch back to Ethernet Classic!!!
Ohh.... That hurts my brain on so many levels. "...directional markings are provided for optimum signal transfer." Wouldn't want the electrons to forget which way they were supposed to go, eh?
Jeremy http://alucinari.net
"Uber-fiber hyper gylde"
Combination personal lubricant and laxative?
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson