Home > IT Answers > DataCenter > Information required on 10Gigabit Ethernet ca...
Help

Question

  Asked: Jul 22 2005   12:50 AM GMT
  Asked by: rigveda

Information required on 10Gigabit Ethernet cards


DataCenter, Data center design, Data center operations, Disaster Recovery, Space/structure, IT architecture, Implementation, Planning, Hardware, Servers, BEA WebLogic, Hewlett-Packard Application Server, Emerging technologies, Grid computing, On demand, Utility computing, Intel servers, Linux on Intel, Server management, Backup & recovery, Installing/upgrading operating systems, Integration/Connectivity, Performance/Tuning, Server consolidation, Server-based/Thin-client computing, Unix on Intel, Windows on Intel, Unix, Unix servers, Installation, AIX, HP-UX, Linux, Solaris, SunOS, Windows Server 2003, Windows, Datacenter Server, Windows 2000 Server, Cluster service configuration, Component Load Balancing, CLB, Failover, Hardware requirements, Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS), MSCS, Microsoft Virtual Server, Network Load Balancing, NLB, Network requirements, Partitioning, Total size of the database, s, in use in organization, 1 TB - 3TB, 100GB - 1TB, >3TB, Networking, Routers, Switches, Hubs, Cabling, Network management software, Availability, Bandwidth, Benchmarking, Fault isolation, Performance management, Protocol analysis, Ethernet, NFS, TCP, Networking Equipment, Gigabit ethernet, Network Interface Cards, Network testing, OC-3/OC-12, Optical Networking, QoS, Development, Lifecycle development, Storage, EMC, IBM, Veritas, Emulex, Fujitsu, Hitachi Data Systems, InterSAN, LSI Logic, McData, Network Appliance, StorageTek, Sun Microsystems, Tivoli, TrueSAN, Storage products and equipment, Adapters/Interfaces, NAS, SAN, SCSI, Storage servers, Online transaction processing, Microsoft Windows, Oracle, Systems management software, IBM/Tivoli, Financial services applications, SAP, SunGard Data Systems, Manufacturing applications, Baan, i2 Technologies, Manugistics, Oracle Manufacturing, Special-purpose software, Disaster recovery software

Hello All,

I needed some information and datapoints on the following topics:
- today what is 10GbE card used for?
- what do you see the future for 10GbE?
- what do you think is an acceptable price point for this card (just a guesstimate)? Today it is very expensive as compared to the regular 1GbE cards. It is almost 10 times the price.
- which applications and where do you see the usage of this card?
- which target market (vertical industry as well as horizontal industry) - Telco, server consolidation, partitioning etc?
- do you think that a 10GbE card can be used as a core I/O card on a server - maybe on high end servers (UNIX, Intel ....) OR do you think customers would continue to use 1GbE card as a core I/O?
- what is a core I/O card and what is it used for by the customers in the datacenters?

If you can respond to any of these questions if not all, it would be really appreciated. If you can give any additional information on this topic of 10GbE, it would be very helpful. Any kind of pointers etc also would be very helpful.

Thanks a lot for spending some time on this and help me get my answers.

Subscribe to Alerts! Get questions and answers delivered to your Inbox.


E-mail me updates on this question



   SUBSCRIBE

hidden modal window
Help

Answer Wiki (Improve, edit or add to this answer)

IMPROVE THIS ANSWER
View History
 RATE THIS ANSWER
0
Click to Vote:
  •   0
  •  0
Last Answered: Jul 25 2005  10:26 AM GMT  by larrythethird




Until you have a computer with no moving parts, hard drives or tapes, you cannot push enough data through a 1 gig card to use it's full capabilities. The best servers can burst up to about 600 meg. Only a backup could sustain any data transfer that gets close to that. At this time, 10 gig is for switch to switch.
  • AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Browse more Questions and Answers on DataCenter, Storage and CIO.

Looking for relevant DataCenter Whitepapers? Visit the SearchDataCenter.com Research Library.


RSS - Discussions Help

Discuss This Answer


You must be logged-in to discuss a question. Log-in/Register

larrythethird  |   Jul 25 2005  10:27AM GMT

Until you have a computer with no moving parts, hard drives or tapes, you cannot push enough data through a 1 gig card to use it’s full capabilities. The best servers can burst up to about 600 meg. Only a backup could sustain any data transfer that gets close to that. At this time, 10 gig is for switch to switch.

 

PeterMac  |   Jul 25 2005  11:09AM GMT

Can think of a few applications where it would be useful. Most Linux/Unix systems make far better use of memory than Windows, and running repetative memory / comms applications can easily outpace even a 10Gig card. Remember Ethernet speed is Bits per second, motherboard speed (on newer processors) is 64 bits wide so a 400MHZ FSB system is roughly eqivalent to a 30GB card in terms of data movement. Web Crawlers, and Spammers will love this card.
Also any congested network will benefit from using it, as there will be lots of small messages moving around, and even if it makes little difference on an individual basis the reduction in message times will free up a considerable amount of network time for other use.
As to price, like any other comodity, whatever the market will bear. for some people even 10 times the price of a 1GB card will seem cheep, I doubt if many would be prepared to pay even double at the moment though.

 

astronomer  |   Jul 25 2005  11:52AM GMT

I see 10G as the next logical step in the network backbone which will eventually filter down to servers and workstations. I don’t see doing it server to server at this time unless you have unique needs. We currently have our main windows servers connected to a 1G switch.

From the backup statistics it seems clear our silicon mechanics “backup server” can handle anything our other servers throw at it. We normally sustain a little over 600M from our fastest servers. In a few years we should see servers pushing past 1G but until then I don’t see the point in investing in 10G to the server.

On the other hand, your backbone may well need more than 1G already. Check your utilization. Verify the need before spending the money.
rt

 

astronomer  |   Jul 25 2005  11:52AM GMT

I see 10G as the next logical step in the network backbone which will eventually filter down to servers and workstations. I don’t see doing it server to server at this time unless you have unique needs. We currently have our main windows servers connected to a 1G switch.

From the backup statistics it seems clear our silicon mechanics “backup server” can handle anything our other servers throw at it. We normally sustain a little over 600M from our fastest servers. In a few years we should see servers pushing past 1G but until then I don’t see the point in investing in 10G to the server.

On the other hand, your backbone may well need more than 1G already. Check your utilization. Verify the need before spending the money.
rt

 

HannahDrake  |   Jul 26 2005  8:56AM GMT

Hi,

Great questions. I sent them in to SearchDataCenter.com’s networking expert Carrie Higbie, Global Network Applications Market Manager for The Siemon Company. Although she normally only answers questions that are sent in through our Ask The Experts site, she thought they were great questions, and answered them all!

You’ll find her answers here:

<a href="http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/ateQuestionNResponse/0,289625,sid80_cid953424_tax301483,00.html" rel="nofollow">http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/ateQuestionNResponse/0,289625,sid80_cid953424_tax301483,00.html</a>

Hope that helps.

Hannah Drake
Assistant Editor
SearchDataCenter.com