My EtherealMind» ethernet

Can Fibre Optic Ethernet Cables Be Longer Than the Standard ?

Greg Ferro — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:41:10 +0000

Short Answer is "It depends, but usually yes." Long answer follows with a discussion of launch power, receiver sensitivity, and cable losses.

Responding: On Optimizing Traffic for Network Virtualization

Greg Ferro — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:10:47 +0000

I'm responding to Brad Hedlund's post "On optimizing traffic for network virtualization" where he seems to missed a key point. It's about cost of ownership in terms of ability to troubleshoot.

Ethernet Jumbo Frames, Full Duplex and Why Jumbo Frames Are 9000 Bytes)

Greg Ferro — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:14:26 +0000

I've been doing some research into Ethernet and the use of Jumbo frames for some content I've been writing and come across something interesting. The documents state that Jumbo frames can only be used on Full Duplex Ethernet connections.

What Are 10 Gigabit Ultra Short Reach (USR) Optics ?

Greg Ferro — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 18:36:06 +0000

A couple of weeks back I posted this article comparing pricing and features on Cisco Fabric Ethernet Transceivers as a low cost option compared to 10GbaseSR SFP+ optics in when building 10GbE networks - Cisco Nexus 5000 / 2000 Pricing Bundles and Fabric Extension Transceivers (FETs) vs 10GbaseSR SFPs.

What Is an Ethernet Fabric ?

Greg Ferro — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 17:30:11 +0000

Define "Ethernet Fabric"

Backplane Ethernet – The GBaseK Standard

Greg Ferro — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 20:52:37 +0000

A lesser known standard is Backplane Ethernet. I wasn't aware of it until I was researching Notes on Cables and Connectors for 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet. I spent some time over the weekend scratching an itch to have a look at it and why it exists.These are scrach notes, and observations from a research session and not intended to a canonical investigation. Interesting though because it's is valuable to understand that many network products are functionally all the same - only the software and the people are different.

Internets of Interest:3 Jan 11

bookmarks — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 16:12:09 +0000

Collection of useful, relevant or inane places on the the Internets for 3 Jan 11:

All the Ethernet Cooks

Greg Ferro — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 15:14:00 +0000

Just how many standards bodies actually make standards for Ethernet ?

Futures Review on 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet

Greg Ferro — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 12:28:58 +0000

Some short observations on 40GbE and 100GbE after reviewing various pieces of documentation. I'm especially focusing on the physical interfaces and cabling data here and its impact on our working practices.

Show 17 – Big Hot and Heavy Switches – Part 2

Greg Ferro — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:23:55 +0000

A detailed look at the Big, Hot and Heavy Ethernet Switches with a large crew to talk about their practical experiences on design, selection and performance of Cisco Nexus switches. The result ? We don't think the Nexus switches are very exciting.

Packet Pushers – Show 16 – Big Hot and Heavy Switches – Part 1

Greg Ferro — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:33:07 +0000