Frequently Asked Questions
Contents:
Q: What is considered “Higher Speed Ethernet”?
A: Currently, the maximum interface rate in the IEEE 802.3 standard and approved amendments is 10 Gb/s. “Higher Speed Ethernet” refers to speeds greater than 10 Gb/s which are being considered within the IEEE 802.3 working group.
Q: When did the Higher Speed Ethernet industry efforts start? A: A higher speed Ethernet call for interest was held in July 2006, and the IEEE 802.3 working group decided to form a Higher Speed Study Group (HSSG). Click here for additional details on the study group formation
Q: What is the current status of HSSG’s activities on higher speed Ethernet?
A: The HSSG completed a Project Authorization Request (PAR) in July 2007 calling for a 40 Gigabit Ethernet (40GbE) for server and storage applications and a 100 Gigabit Ethernet (100GbE) for network aggregation applications. The PAR was approved by the IEEE 802.3 working group and in December 2007, the 802.3ab 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s Ethernet task force was authorized to begin work on a draft standard.
Q: Why were two rates chosen for the next speed of Ethernet? A: A key finding by the HSSG was there is a divergence in bandwidth growth. The aggregation requirement of the network core is growing significantly faster than the requirements of the data center computing interfaces appropriate for server-based applications. The HSSG determined that 40GbE would more closely match the performance improvements in key server technologies such as host bus interfaces, memories, etc., and 100GbE will be required to properly address the cost/performance requirements of network aggregation applications.
Q: What are the main applications driving the demand for 40GbE?
A: Bandwidth demand for data center computing and storage resources is driven by several emerging technologies including multi-core processing, virtualization, networked storage, and I/O convergence. These server and storage applications will benefit from the smaller bandwidth step which more closely matches server and storage performance improvements.
Q: What are the main applications driving the need for 100GbE?
A: Traffic demand in the network backbone continues to grow rapidly, driven by a number of popular applications such as IPTV, video-on-demand services, remote storage, IP data transit, mobile broadband services, and VPN services. While each application on its own has small impact, the cumulative effect of the growth in both size and bandwidth of the Internet is having a huge impact. A similar bandwidth requirement is observed at the aggregation points within today’s large data centers. The capacity strain felt in these core networking and data center aggregation applications will benefit from a 10x speed increment which has proven effective in matching the cost/performance requirements of the aggregation equipment.
Q: What are the next steps in the HSSG standards path?
A: The IEEE P802.3 task force plans meetings and organizes the work that needs to be done to create the standard. Once a draft of the standard is complete, the 802.3 working group will vote on it. After the working group has passed the draft standard, the sponsoring group then circulates it for a vote – a public review process called “sponsor balloting”. After a successful sponsor ballot, a recommendation is made to the Standards Board as to whether the draft should be approved as an IEEE standard and be published.
For further information on the IEEE 802.3 standards process, see the IEEE 802.3 Operating Rules.
Q: When is the higher speed Ethernet standard expected to be completed?
A: The P802.3ba task force has just held its first meeting and has not yet adopted a detailed schedule for the work plan. However, a rough estimate for the activities described above is that a draft standard will be completed in 2010.
Q: Where can I find more information?
A: The Ethernet Alliance is continually working to develop information resources for IEEE 802 Ethernet projects. Please feel free to contact us at
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