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The
10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE) networking standard promises great speed
in data transfer rates. Too bad it hasn't been as easy to take
advantage of its 1 gigabit per second rates.
Sun Microsystems (Quote) is
hoping to change that with a new breed of multi-threaded 10 GbE
networking technology that aims to take full advantage of the bandwidth
that 10GbE offers. The goal, Sun said, is to provide full 10 GbE line
rate wire speed from the network interface all the way to the
processing port.
Sun Moves Wider on 10 Gig Ethernet Highway
The
10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE) networking standard promises great speed
in data transfer rates. Too bad it hasn't been as easy to take
advantage of its 1 gigabit per second rates.
Sun Microsystems (Quote) is
hoping to change that with a new breed of multi-threaded 10 GbE
networking technology that aims to take full advantage of the bandwidth
that 10GbE offers. The goal, Sun said, is to provide full 10 GbE line
rate wire speed from the network interface all the way to the
processing port.
"If
people continue to use the traditional networking interface, which is
based on a single thread mindset, you've got a bottleneck," David Yen,
EVP for Sun Microelectronics explained to internetnews.com. "As
part of our supercomputing effort, we started to think about how to
widen the lane. Rather than single channel, we want a multi-lane
highway in each direction so that we have very smooth data flow from
the network into the processor."
Sun
is so confident that it's got a winner with its 10 GbE technology that
it has set up a separate division to handle the intellectual property
related to it. And it's lined up semiconductor giant Marvell Technology
Group, which plans to license the technology in order to develop its
own network interface cards (NICs) and application-specific integrated
circuit (ASICs).
Marvell
will also work with Sun on future innovations related to the
multi-threaded 10 GbE technology and on future Ethernet standards such
as 100 GbE, as they emerge.
The
new, multi-threaded 10 GbE networking technology puts Sun at the
forefront of networking technology and could ultimately lead to high
stakes showdown or partnership with the current 10GbE industry leader,
Cisco Systems (Quote).
Yen
declined to comment on financial terms with Marvell but said the deal
is not exclusive and that Sun will market the technology to others. The
multi-threaded 10 GbE technology is also expected to be integrated
directly into Sun's upcoming Niagara 2 chip.
"If it's just for Marvell, we wouldn't have gone through the distance of establishing a separate business unit," Yen said.
"Marvell's
volume and expertise will further enhance the technology and Sun will
also benefit by using the resulting chips," Yen said. "It also endorses
the innovation value of Sun's intellectual property."
Yen
declined to comment on any discussions that Sun may be engaged in with
other vendors about licensing the technology. "If Cisco is interested
in any of our silicon technology we are very interested in talking with
them," Yen noted.
According to a recent report, Cisco is considered the leading vendor in the 10 GbE space with a nearly 70 percent share of the market.
Though 10 GbE represents the future, it is not yet widely deployed in enterprises or data centers.
"Data
centers today are dominated by 1 gigabit Ethernet and a lot of that is
due to cost," Yen said. "With today's more capable processors, people
are more desperate for higher bandwidth on the networking side and 10
GbE is right now the major industry standard in that direction." We bet
a lot on that interface and we believe that it's going to become much
more popular."
Read the original article: http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/3669786
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