An Ethernet standard that transmits at 10 Gbps. Introduced in 2002 and abbreviated "10 GbE," "10GE" or "10G Ethernet," it extended the familiar and ubiquitous Ethernet used in local area networks (LANs) to high-speed storage networks (SANs) as well as backbones in large enterprise networks and wide area and metropolitan area networks. See LAN, SAN, WAN and MAN.
Full Duplex and No Collisions
10G Ethernet works only in full-duplex mode and does not support CSMA/CD, the common Ethernet collision method used to gain access to the physical medium. A "WAN interface sublayer" (WIS) makes 10G Ethernet compatible with the SONET transport at 10 Gbps (OC-192). See SONET.
Fiber or Copper
The 10GBASE-LX4 version (see below) carries four wavelengths of light on one pair of fibers. In 2004, 10G Ethernet over copper wire was introduced. Using four twinaxial cables, the copper version was designed for short distances between switches and storage devices in the datacenter. See Ethernet and FCoE.
Full Duplex and No Collisions
10G Ethernet works only in full-duplex mode and does not support CSMA/CD, the common Ethernet collision method used to gain access to the physical medium. A "WAN interface sublayer" (WIS) makes 10G Ethernet compatible with the SONET transport at 10 Gbps (OC-192). See SONET.
Fiber or Copper
The 10GBASE-LX4 version (see below) carries four wavelengths of light on one pair of fibers. In 2004, 10G Ethernet over copper wire was introduced. Using four twinaxial cables, the copper version was designed for short distances between switches and storage devices in the datacenter. See Ethernet and FCoE.
10G ETHERNET OVER FIBER (IEEE 802.3ae)
Dark
Fiber or Fiber Maximum
Version SONET Type Distance
10GBASE-SR Fiber MMF/850 nm 65 meters
10GBASE-LRM Fiber MMF/1310 nm 220 meters
10GBASE-LRM Fiber MMF/850 nm 260 meters
10GBASE-LX4 Fiber MMF/1310 nm 300 meters
10GBASE-LR Fiber SMF/1310 nm 10 kilometers
10GBASE-ER Fiber SMF/1550 nm 40 kilometers
10GBASE-ZR** Fiber SMF/1550 nm 80 kilometers
10GBASE-LX4 Fiber SMF/1310 nm 10 kilometers
10GBASE-SW SONET MMF/850 nm 65 meters
10GBASE-LW SONET SMF/1310 nm 10 kilometers
10GBASE-EW SONET SMF/1550 nm 40 kilometers
MMF = multimode fiber
SMF = singlemode fiber
** = non standard
10G ETHERNET OVER COPPER (IEEE 802.3ak)
Version Use Cable Max. Distance
10GBASE-CX4 Datacenter Twinax 15 meters
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
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