By the time you read this, at least one cabling manufacturer, Systimax Solutions, will have a product supporting the draft version and guaranteed to support the final version, says Mike Barnick, Systimax's senior manager of solutions marketing. The cable will use thicker-gauge copper and thicker jackets than the current Cat 6 standard. Proper installation procedures will be a key to avoiding one of the biggest enemies of 10GBase-T, Barnick points out--cabling secured with tight tie wraps increases the likelihood of alien cross talk. Simply revising installation procedures may make standard Cat 6 more amenable to 10GBase-T, according to George Zimmerman, CTO of Solarflare Communications, a manufacturer of components for network interfaces.
If you're planning to adopt the 10GBase-T standard early, you'll need to prepare extra room in your cable runs, as Cat 6 is thicker than Cat 5e, and it looks like augmented Cat 6 will be thicker yet. Either version of Cat 6 will require more breathing space to minimize alien cross talk with 10GBase-T. For now, if you're looking for low-cost 10 Gigabit connectivity and can deal with distances of about 15 meters, look for products with 802.3ak support, which provides for copper-based Gigabit connectivity with special Twinax cables. The data center is the most likely place to use 10 Gigabit copper solutions.
WAN Services
For WAN services, pay attention to new MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching)-based offerings that support Ethernet across the entire WAN. The IEEE 802.3ah standard (Ethernet in the First Mile) has made it easier for carriers to offer inexpensive end-to-end Ethernet services for both voice and data. Services can be provided at Layer 2, letting you manage the routing, and they also can provide a routed IP service, relieving you of having to manage a routed infrastructure. If you've been putting up with frame relay service, you should consider these newer offerings, since MPLS promises better QoS, lower latency and easier management at a lower cost.
VPLS (Virtual Private LAN Services) are on their way, too. Right now, smaller carriers like Masergy Communications are offering VPLS, and large carriers are likely to do the same this year. VPLS lets you plug in your Ethernet networks at multiple locations across the WAN, yet still appear as one big happy LAN. In 2005, at least, who could ask for anything more?
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