Coping with the Next Ethernet, IEEE 802.3baCoping with the Next Ethernet, IEEE 802.3ba

As the standard begins to work its way into products, enterprises will need to be ready for its impact.

Back in June 17, 2010 the IEEE announced the ratification of the next generation of Ethernet standard, 802.3ba. As the standard begins to work its way into products, enterprises will need to be ready for its impact.

Preparing for 40 and 100 Gbps speeds over fiber will require many changes--changes to cabling, interface cards and network systems. Will the enterprise be ready? Where are the systems that support 802.3ba? Will the enterprise be able to take advantage of these higher speeds? What will be the impact and cost of the new cabling? Will we ever be able to future-proof the cables?

The press release, "IEEE: Launches Next Generation of High-Rate Ethernet with New IEEE 802.3ba Standard" stated, "The new standard will act as the catalyst needed for unlocking innovation across the greater Ethernet ecosystem. IEEE 802.3ba is expected to trigger further expansion of the 40 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit Ethernet family of technologies by driving new development efforts, as well as providing new aggregation speeds that will enable 10 Gbps Ethernet network deployments. The standard’s ratification also dovetails into efforts aimed at delivering greater broadband access, such as the U.S. Federal Communication Commission’s 'Connecting America' National Broadband Plan, which calls for 100 Mbps access for a minimum of 100 million homes across the U.S."

IEEE 802.3ba Cabling

The 40Gbps standard uses a bundle of 12 fibers, compared to 2 fibers used by 10Gbps Ethernet. The multi-lane version of 100Gbps requires a bundle of 24 fibers. If the enterprise has already installed OM3 and/or OM4 cables, this does not mean they can automatically support the new standard.

This is the first time two speeds (40 and 100Gbps) have been included in an Ethernet standard. These high speeds look attractive but the consequences of moving to the new standard are multi-fold. The enterprise needs to consider:

* Existing cables may not work with the new standard. As can be seen by the table above, most enterprises will have to install new cables.
* That the cable bundles will be far larger, taking up more conduit space.
* Upgrading or replacing the switches, routers and firewalls.
* That the existing network management systems will not be able to monitor the traffic at 40 and 100Gbps.
* Network analyzers will also be too slow for testing the network.
* That new cable testing equipment will be required.
* Installing the new network in a phased approach and operating the new network while the old network is still installed and available if the there are problems. The cable will not be the only component to evaluate. The network devices and interface cards can be problems as well.
* Attempting to process data at 100Gbps can be overwhelming. This is equivalent to over 700G bytes of information to be stored in one minute.

The influence of the new standards will be felt in many areas:

* The cost of 10Gbps interface cards will probably drop.
* There will be a need for newly certified cable installers.
* New network devices such as switches and routers will be coming to the market.
* Servers and storage devices will need to be improved to support the higher speeds.
* Carriers and ISPs will have to look at and eventually support the use of IEEE 802.3ba connections to their services.
* There may be a push to expand the Ethernet frame size well beyond 2000 bytes to allow for more efficient transmission.

Keith Cambron, President and CEO, AT&T Labs is quoted in the IEEE press release stating, "With traffic on our IP backbone network continuing to grow at a rapid pace, we are pleased to see the IEEE ratify the 802.3ba standard. We’ve seen traffic on AT&T's IP backbone network double over the last three years, and it now carries nearly 19 petabytes of traffic on an average business day. The ratification of the 802.3ba standard is an important milestone as we work to stay ahead of this continuing growth."