10 Gigabit Ethernet in the Marketplace: When Gigabit Ethernet is Just Not Enough

Transcription

1 DATACOM CABLE SOLUTIONS 10 Gigabit Ethernet in the Marketplace: When Gigabit Ethernet is Just Nt Enugh Written by: Anthny R. Ursini, RCDD, LEED-GA, Reginal Technical Manager, Datacm Prducts May 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 ENTERPRISE NETWORKING 1 APPLICATIONS FOR 10 GIGABIT ETHERNET 2 10 GIGABIT ETHERNET OVERVIEW 3 COMPARISON BETWEEN 1 GBE AND 10 GBE 4 WHY INVEST IN 10 GIGABIT CABLING NOW? 4 WHY IS ANEXT AN ISSUE FOR GIGABIT ETHERNET? 5 GIGABIT ETHERNET VS 10 GIGABIT ETHERNET 5 CONCLUSION 6

2 10 Gigabit Ethernet in the Marketplace: When Gigabit Ethernet is Just Nt Enugh INTRODUCTION Ethernet technlgy is currently the mst deplyed technlgy fr high-perfrmance netwrk envirnments. Enterprises arund the wrld have invested cabling, equipment, prcesses, and training in Ethernet. In additin, the ubiquity f Ethernet keeps its csts lw, and with each deplyment f next-generatin Ethernet technlgy, deplyment csts have trended dwnward. In netwrks tday, the increase in wrldwide netwrk traffic is driving service prviders, enterprise netwrk managers and architects t lk t faster netwrk technlgies t slve increased bandwidth demands. As enterprise applicatins cnverge n the cmmn Ethernet backbne, the netwrk must be able t gracefully supprt a new array f bandwidth-hungry applicatins such as strage (NAS and SAN), streaming media, digital imaging, vide and thers. T effectively deal with this nslaught f bandwidth demand, frward-thinking netwrk architects are designing enterprise netwrks with 10 Gigabit Ethernet t meet current and future needs. In general, 10 Gigabit Ethernet links are deplyed in parts f an enterprise r service prvider netwrk where large numbers f Gigabit Ethernet links are being aggregated. This mst frequently ccurs in the netwrk cre, but as Gigabit-t-the-desktp deplyments cntinue t grw, the need fr 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks frm the netwrk edge will emerge. The fllwing are sme cmmn uses r applicatins fr 10 Gigabit Ethernet. ENTERPRISE NETWORKING Starting frm the edge f the netwrk, as Gigabit-t-the-desktp deplyments cntinue t grw, the need fr 10 Gigabit uplinks frm a wiring clset switch t handle the perfrmance demands f pwer users will emerge. Backbne links t entire flrs r buildings may run ver ptical fibers at Gigabit rates, while drps t desktp wrkstatins may need t be n faster than 100 Mbps. Naturally, with this upsurge in bandwidth demand, 10 Gigabit Ethernet will be used as a highspeed intercnnectin between multiple buildings. These buildings culd be in clse prximity n a self-cntained "campus," r culd be many miles apart and cnnected by dark fiber prvided by a lcal service prvider r municipality. Due t the limited distance f 10 Gigabit Ethernet n Multimde fiber (MMF), Singlemde fiber (SMF) must be deplyed t supprt 10 Gigabit building intercnnects. In an enterprise data center, 10 Gigabit Ethernet can be utilized in a variety f applicatins such as cluster cmputing, server attachment and strage intercnnect. Server clusters are a grup f tens, hundreds r even thusands f relatively inexpensive (e.g., 1U Linux servers) cmputers (referred t as ndes) cnnected in parallel t cperatively slve large, cmplex prblems. Cluster cmputing has becme a mainstream technlgical tl fr research, financial mdeling, digital image rendering and scientific applicatins. The cnnectin between the varius cmputers in the cluster is typically an Ethernet switch. 10 Gigabit Ethernet has 10 times the perfrmance ver Gigabit Ethernet tday. With the additin f 10 Gigabit Ethernet t the Ethernet technlgy family, a lcal netwrk nw can reach further distances and supprt even mre bandwidth-hungry applicatins. A natural chice fr expanding,

3 extending, and upgrading existing Ethernet netwrks, 10 Gigabit Ethernet als meets several criteria fr efficient and effective high-speed netwrk perfrmance such as: A custmer s existing Ethernet infrastructure is easily interperable with 10 Gigabit Ethernet. The new technlgy prvides lwer cst f wnership including bth acquisitin and supprt csts versus current alternative technlgies Uses prcesses, prtcls and management tls already deplyed in the management infrastructure, 10 Gigabit Ethernet draws n familiar management tls and a cmmn skills base Flexibility in netwrk design with server, switch and ruter cnnectins Multiple vendr surcing f standards-based prducts prvides prven interperability Prvides much needed scalability fr Next-Generatin technlgies As 10 Gigabit Ethernet cntinues t grw in the market, and equipment vendrs deliver 10 Gigabit Ethernet netwrk devices, the next step fr enterprise and service prvider netwrks is the cmbinatin f multi-gigabit bandwidth with intelligent services, which leads t scaled, intelligent, multi-gigabit netwrks with backbne and server cnnectins ranging up t 10 Gbps fr cpper cabling. Cnvergence f vice and data netwrks running ver Ethernet is nw a very real ptin. And, as TCP/IP incrprates enhanced services and features, such as packetized vice and vide, the underlying Ethernet can als carry these services withut mdificatin. APPLICATIONS FOR 10 GIGABIT ETHERNET Manufacturers and end users generally agree that Ethernet is inexpensive, well understd, widely deplyed and backwards cmpatible in tday s enterprise netwrks. Currently, a packet can leave a server n a shrt-haul ptic Gigabit Ethernet prt, mve crss-cuntry via a DWDM (dense-wave divisin multiplexing) netwrk, and find its way dwn t a PC attached t a Gigabit cpper prt, all withut any re-framing r prtcl cnversin. Ethernet is literally everywhere, and 10 Gigabit Ethernet maintains this seamless migratin in functinality fr any applicatin in which Ethernet can be applied. Fabric intercnnects, whether they are fr server area netwrks r strage area netwrks, have traditinally been the dmain f dedicated, ften prprietary, netwrks with relatively small user bases when cmpared t Ethernet. These server area netwrks include InfiniBand*, Server net*, Myranet* and varius ther technlgies, ffer excellent bandwidth and latency perfrmance fr very shrt-haul netwrks. Hwever, with the exceptin f InfiniBand, these are prprietary netwrks that can be difficult t deply and maintain due t the small number f experienced IT prfessinals familiar with the technlgy. The small vlumes als result in higher csts fr server adapters and switches. And, as with any prprietary slutin, they are nt interperable with ther technlgies withut the apprpriate ruters and switches. In strage area netwrks, the lack f standards and a slew f interperability prblems plagued the early Fibre Channel deplyments. Hwever, these technlgies als suffer similar prblems as thse seen by prprietary server area netwrks in that they are cnsidered difficult t deply and require specialized IT Skills. Hence they are relatively expensive at the adapter and switch prt and are still nt directly interperable with ther netwrk technlgies withut expensive ruters r switching devices, and generally fcus n shrt-haul deplyments. Fr bth server and 1

4 strage-area netwrks, 10 Gigabit Ethernet is in a psitin t replace these prprietary technlgies as a next-generatin intercnnect fr several reasns, including: 10 Gigabit Ethernet Offers Necessary Bandwidth InfiniBand and Fibre Channel have als begun mass deplyments f 10 Gigabit technlgies indicating a cnvergence n 10 Gigabit thrughput Medical Radilgy and Imaging requirements based upn file size and urgency Operatinal Cnvergence Vide Streaming, etc. Cst-Saving Server Cnslidatin 10 Gigabit Ethernet grants a single server the bandwidth needed t replace several servers that were ding different jbs Centralizatin f management is als a majr benefit f server cnslidatin. With a single pwerful server, IT managers can mnitr, manage, and tune servers and applicatin resurces frm a single cnsle, which saves time and maximizes IT resurces Accrding t industry experts, cmpanies realize a seven-t-ne savings in management when prcesses and servers are cnslidated Planned Grwth f 10 Gigabit Netwrk Features Fr the first time ever, Ethernet can be a lw-latency netwrk due t RDMA (Remte Direct Memry Access) supprt, which is critical in the server-t-server cmmunicatin typically assciated with clustering and server area netwrks Scalable infrastructure In additin, the expected universal deplyment f TOE (TCP/IP Offlad Engine) technlgy in 10 Gigabit Ethernet adapters may make it extremely efficient n hst systems with expected CPU utilizatin well belw anything seen n tday s systems deplying Gigabit Ethernet. Due t the wide adptin rate f Ethernet, TOE technlgy will becme extremely cst efficient cmpared t the lwer vlume, niche alternatives. 10 GIGABIT ETHERNET OVERVIEW 10 GbE is the latest speed phenmena in Ethernet s nging evlutin. Ratified in June 2006 as IEEE 802.3an, February 2008 as ANSI/TIA 568B.2-10 and ANSI/TIA 568-C.2 in August f 2009, it is, in every aspect, fully cmpatible with previus versins f Ethernet. 10 GbE uses the same frame frmat, Media Access Cntrl (MAC) prtcl and frame size. Thus, netwrk managers can retain existing management tls and peratinal prcedures as they intrduce 10 GbE int their netwrk. The differences between 10 GbE and previus versins f Ethernet are incnsequential as it pertains t cmpatibility. First f all, unlike its predecessrs, 10 GbE nly perates in full-duplex mde. This attribute is a benefit rather than disadvantage since full-duplex peratin prvides faster, lwer-latency respnses t netwrk transmissins. Secnd, the IEEE 802.3ae standard defines tw different types f PHYs LAN PHY and WAN PHY. The LAN PHY transmits Ethernet frames directly ver a 10 GbE serial interface. LAN PHY is fr standard 10 Gigabit per secnd transmissin within an enterprise r lcal area-netwrk (LAN) envirnment. The WAN PHY encapsulates Ethernet packets in SONET, OC-192c frames and prvides a rate matching mechanism f Gigabits per secnd. This SONET-cmpatible interface allws native 10 Gigabit Ethernet t be transprted directly ver an existing service prvider SONET/SDH netwrk. 2

5 COMPARISON BETWEEN 1 GIGABIT AND 10 GIGABIT ETHERNET 1 Gigabit Ethernet 10 Gigabit Ethernet CSMA/CD and Full Duplex Leveraged Fiber Channel PMDs 8B/10B PAM 5 Cding Full Duplex nly New Optical PMDs 64B/66B PAM 16 Cding Perfrmance 10 Gigabit Ethernet ffers: Same familiar perating envirnment Ease f use, debug and management N mre CSMA/CD issues 10x bandwidth and 8x latency vs. Gigabit Ethernet fr the Channel WHY INVEST IN 10 GIGABIT CABLING NOW? Sme things t think abut Hw ften des a cmpany get a chance t rewire? Can yu be assured that mney t retrfit will be there when needed? Will ther parts f the infrastructure, like cnduit, tray, and raceways be suitable fr retrfitting? What if yu have t pull ut the ld cable? (add 2x labr) Wuld yu really want yur cabling infrastructure t be the bttle neck? Installing technlgy that has dead end implicatins is cunter intuitive What abut cstly dwntime assciated with retrfit? There are n standards n the hrizn that will make Categry 5e r Categry 6 wrk t 100 meters fr 10G Ethernet 10 Gig is backward cmpatible n frk lift upgrades needed! Immediate benefits like reduced pwer usage fr PE (+) devices, enhanced thrughput, and higher versatility with applicatins like security will be immediately relevant Better bandwidth and supprt fr impending applicatins like AC fr 1G Wireless/Wi-Fi 3

6 WHY IS ANEXT AN ISSUE FOR GIGABIT ETHERNET? 10/100/1000 Base T = 5 PAM 10G Base T = 16 PAM 4-prs 25 mega-pulses/sec Base T 4-prs 125 mega-pulses/sec Base T Tmlinsn-Harashima Precded (THP) 16 discrete levels: 2-dimensinal latticed pattern 16 vltage levels cupled w/ 16 time intervals n each pair GIGABIT ETHERNET VS 10 GIGABIT ETHERNET (Categry 5e/6 vs. Categry 6A) 10 Gigabit Ethernet creates new issues that were nt relevant at speeds f 1 Gigabit Ethernet and belw. (This is due t tw majr effects that make the difference between 1 and 10 Gb/s) Higher Nise Emissin: Every transmitting line emits nise by itself. Since 10 Gig uses a much higher transmitting pwer (e.g. pwer cnsumptin per 10G prt is up t 15W cmpared t 0.5W fr 1G) it emits much mre specifically in the relevant bandwidth frm 250 t 500 MHz All f a sudden, 10 Gig impacts itself because neighbring cables interfere with each ther, (via like pairs) an effect called Alien Crsstalk r ANEXT. Reduced Signal Levels: Due t its cmplex encding scheme (PAM 16), 10G BASE-T functins with significantly reduced signal levels per symbl than slwer prtcls. While Gigabit Ethernet sends with initial symbl amplitude f 0.5 V, 10G Ethernet nly uses 0.13 V which is further attenuated ver the length f the cable. Such lwer level signals are mre likely t be interfered with by external influences such as backgrund nise, pwer cupling, etc. 4

7 CONCLUSION In summary, 10 Gigabit Ethernet empwers cmpanies t expand applicatin capabilities, reduce time t slve cmplex financial and scientific applicatins, as well as quickly respnd t changing custmer needs and market cnditins. Unprecedented high bandwidth, lw-latency, and energy efficiency are a few key differentiatrs f General Cable's 10 gigabit cabling prducts which are designed fr hrizntal, as well as backbne media; with a strategic emphasis fr data centers implementing high-perfrmance cmputer clusters, and enterprise netwrks cnslidating disparate SAN slutins int a cmmn lw-cst and high-speed 10 GbE IP strage netwrk. 5