Slashdot Mirror
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.'"
You realise "no more different connector types" was the reasoning with USB?
Extreme Programming - Redundant Array of Inexpensive Developers
And sadly, you'd see the same issues it with this standard too, because an ethernet RJ-45 plug isn't appropriate to plug into a cell phone, digital camera or mp3 player, but a 5-pin mini-connector isn't appropriate to run 25 feet to a switch/router either.
Ethernet has nothing to do with the connector type. It is a layer 2 protocol that sits on top of the physical transport medium. There is a little bit of overlap with things like wiring specs for distances and attenuation, but it ethernet itself doesn't really care what plugs or wires you use. even if connectors were in the spect, it would still likely be extended to allow for new connector types to fit the appropriate devices (mobile phones, mp3 players, etc).
thus, for the consumer world you probably wouldn't see much difference on the user end. developers, on the other hand, would have to start pushing their device drivers into the network stack in order to get them working. say hello to firewalls and IDS/IPS on your HDD and video card.
check out my comic: Essential Tremors