Differences between version 2 and predecessor to the previous major change of GBIC.
Other diffs: Previous Revision, Previous Author, or view the Annotated Edit History
| Newer page: | version 2 | Last edited on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 10:23:39 am | by PerryLorier | Revert |
| Older page: | version 1 | Last edited on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 9:33:03 am | by LindsayDruett | Revert |
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@
----
Cisco offers a range of Gigabit Interface Converters (GBICs) and Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) for Gigabit Ethernet use. These small, modular optical interface transceivers offer a convenient and cost effective solution for the adoption of Gigabit Ethernet in data center, campus, metropolitan area access and ring networks, and storage area networks.
Have a look at [Cisco's GBIC Range|http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/modules/ps872/prod_models_home.html]
+----
+In english:
+There are two physical layers for running Gigabit Ethernet, you can run it over Cat5e (which is cheap), or you can run it over fiber (which can be a lot longer, is electrically inert, etc). However because fiber is so expensive, if you brought a switch with lots of fiber ports and wanted to use cat5e you'll end up shelling out a lot of money you don't need to. So instead Cisco made the ethernet physical layer a pluggable component called a "GBIC", so you can choose which type of fiber you want to put in any individual port. This idea was last seen as [AUI] when people were doing exactly the same thing, for the same reasons with 10mbit ethernet, except it was Coax/ThinNet/ThickNet.
----
Also Look at [SFP]
