10 Gigabit Ethernet

10 Gigabit Ethernet

An Ethernet standard that transmits at 10 Gbps. Abbreviated 10 GbE and introduced in 2002, it enables the familiar and ubiquitous Ethernet used in local area networks (LANs) to be extended to high-speed storage networks (see SAN) as well as for backbones in metropolitan and wide area networks (see MAN and WAN).

The CSMA/CD method commonly used in Ethernet for gaining access to the physical medium is not employed, and only full-duplex operation is supported. A "WAN interface sublayer" (WIS) makes 10 GbE compatible with the SONET transport at 10 Gbps (OC-192).

The 10GBASE-LX4 version (see below) carries four wavelengths of light on one pair of fibers. In 2004, 10 Gigabit Ethernet over Copper was introduced. Using four twinaxial cables, the copper version was designed for short distances between switches and storage devices in the datacenter. See Ethernet.

 10 GIGABIT ETHERNET OVER FIBER (IEEE 802.3ae)

 Version     Use         Fiber        Max. Distance

 10GBASE-SR  Dark fiber  MMF/850 nm   65 meters
 10GBASE-SW  SONET       MMF/850 nm   65 meters

 10GBASE-LR  Dark fiber  SMF/1310 nm  10 kilometers
 10GBASE-LW  SONET       SMF/1310 nm  10 kilometers

 10GBASE-ER  Dark fiber  SMF/1550 nm  40 kilometers
 10GBASE-EW  SONET       SMF/1550 nm  40 kilometers

 10GBASE-LX4 Dark fiber  MMF/1310 nm  300 meters
 10GBASE-LX4 Dark fiber  SMF/1310 nm  10 kilometers

   MMF = multimode fiber
   SMF = singlemode fiber


 10 GIGABIT ETHERNET OVER COPPER (IEEE 802.3ak)

 Version     Use         Cable        Max. Distance

 10GBASE-CX4 Datacenter  Twinax       15 meters