Showing posts with label 10G. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 10G. Show all posts

Monday, January 11, 2010

Shielded-cabling discussion continues

The post a few weeks ago about tests comparing shielded and unshielded twisted-pair cabling systems' ability to handle 10-Gigabit Ethernet generated a bit of feedback in the way of emails and phone calls. One commenter pointed out that an article we published two-and-a-half years ago predicted that such tests would produce the results they did.

More recently, a quick trip around the internets revealed not one but two videos showing how quickly a shielded cable can be terminated - in each case less than a minute. Take a look at Tyco's video demonstration and/or Siemon's.

Meanwhile, my editorial in the December issue of Cabling Installation and Maintenance touched on the notion of running more than 10-Gbits/second on shielded twisted-pair cabling. First, some make-good housekeeping. In that editorial I neglected to mention that the in-the-works 40/100-Gbit Ethernet specifications within IEEE do indeed include a twinax copper-based solution. In one of the many instances in which my brain took a vacation while my body was working, I stated that the 40/100-G specs are fiber-only. D'Oh!

Moving ahead, if I possibly can, I promised more detail on the possibility of 40/100-G over shielded twisted-pair. This article from the January issue of our magazine provides some of that detail. As the article indicates, it looks like it could be a long road for proponents of an IEEE-produced 40/100-Gig-over-shielded-twisted-pair specification. From the looks of it, ensuring that a shielded cabling system can handle such throughput rates might be the lowest hurdle to overcome.

We'll continue to track what goes on with the possibility, and keep you informed.