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You may refuse it now, but you can't ignore it forever. While many seem to be saying, “I'll never need 10 Gbits/sec to the desktop,” it's wiser to beware of the future and learn from the past. 10 Gigabit Ethernet or 10GE is reckoned as the sole answer to the call for greater bandwidth network capacity. 10GE technology transmits at data rates of 10 Gb per second, which effectively is 10 times faster than the current Gigabit Ethernet standard-on traditional twisted pair copper wiring.

The recent ratification of the next-generation of Ethernet technology - IEEE 802.3an-2006 standard, otherwise known as 10GBase-T, is likely to accelerate the implementation of 10GE.

So far users get only around 180 feet (55 meters) of reach using Cat6 cabling, and only around 150 feet (or 45 meters) of reach over Cat5e, which is one of the more widely installed network cabling types in corporate nets. On the other hand, 10GBase-T will reach the maximum distance easily over Category 7 (Cat7) and Category 6-Augmented (Cat6A) UTP cabling.

In India, the industry has come alive especially in the past one year with several launches of 10GE over copper solutions. A handful of cabling companies are already offering end-to-end 10GE cabling solution (CAT6A UTP, and CAT 7 solutions) while others are gearing up to launch their respective solutions by end of the year.

Cat6A Shifts Gear
Cat6a has emerged as the new flavor in the structured cabling market that is capable of supporting huge data centers hungry for bandwidth. “Cat6a UTP cabling systems supporting 10Gigabit Ethernet will be the major focus area for the cabling industry players. The structured cabling market has already accepted this technology with quite a few 10G Base-T installations as the customers want to future-proof their networks,” says Dileep Kumar, enterprise product manager, ADC Krone, echoing the voice of several other vendors. The company was the first cabling company to launch CopperTen in India, the world's first 10GE cabling on UTP.

Cat7 on the other hand is still waiting in the wings and a handful of deployments have also taken place. Not to miss, the growing popularity of wireless technology has also served to boost the demand for a wired infrastructure to underpin it.

Building Long-life Networks
In the past, 10GbE was neither necessary nor affordable. However, high demand of bandwidth has led to an increased demand for higher speed switches and routers. This has a multiplier effect on the wired LAN market, and, in turn, on the structured cabling segment.

Today many companies are seeking to “future proof” their network to ensure they can support emerging technologies and preserve their initial investments. In this regard, argument to deploy 10GE cabling systems is strong keeping in mind cost associated in re-cabling a network.

Peter Karlsson, senior VP, enterprise solutions, CommScope Systimax Solutions asserts this forward planning: “Choosing a cabling solution is a very strategically important decision for any company as it is a one-time investment. For enterprise customers, we suggest it is better to go for a 10GE solution now even though they are using 1GB presently, as in a few years time 10GB will be the mainstay.”

Rajesh Kumar, country manager, Siemon also endorses this view, “The best practice is to install a future-proof cabling plant capable of supporting the next generation of application speeds. The total cost of ownership on 10Gb/s capable cabling is far better than lower performing options.”

There is no denying the fact that data centers will need 10GE. The bandwidth it provides in conjunction with server consolidation is highly advantageous for Web caching, real-time application response, parallel processing and storage. 10GE also finds favor with organizations that wish to have campus backbone linking. Establishing a 10GbE campus backbone is a one-time expense that can provide significant cost savings when compared to monthly communications link bills.

Standard Ratification: A Blessing
Running 10GE over twisted-pair copper wiring was once thought to be impossible, so the standards makers relied on four technical building blocks to make 10GBase-T a reality: cancellation, analog-to-digital conversion, cabling enhancements and coding improvements. As a result, over 90% of the IEEE 802.3an task force members voted to approve the standard, certifying that the technology is stable and marketable.

This standard enables a low-cost, easy-to-use, copper cabling solution for the transmission of 10GbE. 802.3an specifies the industry standard for running 10Gbps of Ethernet data over unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cabling, running a maximum length of around 330 feet, or 100 meters.

The ratification is well timed with the ripple of new product releases across the networking equipment industry. This is being read as an encouraging sign for the 10GE momentum. Rajesh Shenoy, key account manager, India, Belden CDT informs of such driving factors, “The active vendors including Cisco, Foundry and Force 10 are at the verge of launching fully functional 10Gbps (10G Base-T) switches. This will drive the Cat 6a market.”

In particular, Broadcom recently launched a 20-port 10GbE chip for stackable switches. Start-up NetXen followed this release with dual-port 10Gb server cards. IBM, on the other hand, launched its BladeCenter H-said to be the first blade server system to utilize 10GbE backplane signaling.

Demand, Yet To Pick Up
Despite all the excitement around 10GE, the number of actual deployments remains modest. The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is yet to ratify CAT6a standard, as a result many small cabling vendors are playing it safe.

KK Shetty, director, Sales, India & SAARC, Tyco Electronics informs that the market is still in the nascent stage, “Any new technology takes time to take wings and we feel it will be 4-5 years before we can actually see the real impact of 10GE. Even now, 1Gb to the desktop is not yet common so we have a long time to go.”

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