Gigabit Ethernet: Prime time for a new standard

Although there is a growing demand for gigabit-enabled products, gigabit Ethernet may not suit everyone.

There was once a time when, if the Internet went down for five minutes, no-one seemed to care. These days, if the network crashes for 10 seconds, everyone screams blue murder.

Bandwidth is a familiar issue when talking Internet access and Internet service providers (ISPs), but a number of new technologies are forcing SMEs to address the bandwidth within their networks.

The majority of SMEs still deal in small-sized files – Word documents, email, small spreadsheets – however, the volume of traffic is increasing beyond the maximum 100Mb/s offered by Fast Ethernet (known by its speed rating, 10/100).

What was once an exclusive technology for servers has filtered down to other devices. Over the past five years gigabit Ethernet (at 1Gb/s) has become the new standard, reflected in rising demand and falling prices on switches and hubs. Just 12 months ago the default for small business was 10/100 user ports and a gigabit Ethernet (GbE) backbone.

The market has changed to the point where more than half are looking at GbE for everyone, says Jeff Fulton, network consultant at Netgear. Netgear is now approaching the point of selling more GbE ports than 10/100 ports. “Historically, 10Mb to 10/100 took place when the price [per port for Fast Ethernet] was $30. We are at that changeover now for 10/100 to GbE,” says Fulton. Now the price for 10/100 has sunk to $10–$15 per port.

SLI Consulting watched its customers move over to gigabit Ethernet several years ago, and some are already moving on to 10Gb. The reseller sells to vertical markets in research, manufacturing, joinery, medical, broadcasting and post production, which have higher demands on infrastructure than the average SME. These days the upgrade to gigabit performance is a no-brainer; all the speed with no big investment or learning curve. “Nobody who has business sense will invest in Fast Ethernet networks, laptops or servers,” says Jose Goldmann, territory manager for SLI.

SLI is pushing a number of initiatives on the back of a network upgrade. Redesigning workflow processes and print management is a lucrative money spinner, especially replacing several inkjets with a high-volume laser printer or multi-function printer (MFP).

Hogs on the network

There is a general shift in vertical industries for more speed in the LAN environment. New applications are pushing bandwidth limits, such as heavy CAD programs in construction and MRI scanning in medical. Services such as phone and fax that were once handled by dedicated, analogue networks have made the jump to digital and now run over the one Ethernet network, leading to congestion, packet drop-outs and slow performance.

The most common network killer is the ballooning world of messaging technology. Email, BlackBerry servers, videoconferencing and in particular the gradual take-up of VoIP has wound up bandwidth requirements for even the smaller SMEs.

Other more specialised tasks can also call for fast network connections. Constantly accessing large image or video files from a server is an obvious drain, particularly when that server has multiple users.

Something more mundane – and far common – is the regular backup. Even incremental backups have a