Approaching 40G Ethernet Technology: 40G Ethernet Market and Application Analysis
With the explosive growth of Internet traffic, the traditional 10G network has long been unable to meet user demand. Whether it is business users or individual users, high bandwidth has become a consistent vision. In the context of this megatrend, the era of 40G and 100G began to arrive. However, since the 100G market is still immature, 40G has become the preferred solution for most enterprise networks to upgrade their 10G networks. In this article, we will explore the development of 40G networks in depth, presenting the results of 40G development so far, one by one.
40G Ethernet Overview
As early as 2007, the IEEE 802.3ba working group first proposed 40G Ethernet as one of the high-speed Ethernet projects, and in 2010, 40G Ethernet was formally approved as an IEEE 802.3ba standard, which allows Ethernet frames to be transmitted at 40gbit/s. The standard also defines a set of specifications, including the backplane. The standard also defines physical layer specifications that include backplane, copper, and multimode single-mode fiber optic communications. With the development of 40G Ethernet, there are many new additions to the 802.3ba standard, such as 802.3bg-2011, 802.3bj-2014, 802.3bm-2015, and so on. The following table lists some 40GbE related IEEE standard specifications.
40G Ethernet Applications
Applying 40G Ethernet at the network layer typically requires a pair of QSFP+ optical modules connected to a patch cord, such as an OM4 or OM3 fiber optic patch cord. 40G optical modules are plugged into a network server or other component (e.g., a 40G switch) in sequence. Of all the 40G applications, 40G patch cords, 40G optical modules, and 40G switches are considered to be the leading top three 40G Ethernet network applications.
40G Patch Cords
40G patch cords can be divided into 40G Ethernet patch cords and QSFP+ fiber patch cords. 40G copper cables are generally not used in enterprise networks to access the network because they are more costly and less scalable than 10G copper cables, and so far only Cat8 copper cables are available for 40G networks. On the contrary, 40G fiber optic access to the network to be more diverse, the available fiber optic patch cords have 40G fiber optic branch patch cords (such as MTP-LC cable), trunk fiber optic cables (such as MPO trunk fiber optic cables) and conventional fiber optic patch cords such as OM3, OM4, SMF. Enterprise network users often use these patch cords simultaneously to realize 40G-40G transmission or even 10G to 40G network upgrade.
40G Optical Module
Based on the 40G protocol standards developed by the IEEE and MSA, there are two main types of 40G modules available on the market: QSFP+ modules and CFP modules.QSFP+ optical modules have four transmit and four receive channels and support 40G Ethernet single multimode fiber optic applications.CFP modules have a larger size specification than QSFP+, and are typically used for 100G Ethernet but also support 40G.Both module types have a number of interfaces. module types both have many different interface types. As networks evolve, new 40G module ports and standards continue to emerge. Some of the major interface types for 40G optical modules are listed below;
40G optical modules and 40G patch cords paired together are widely used in 40G network transmission due to their flexibility. However, as users demand higher and higher network speeds, 40G DACs and 40G AOCs are becoming more and more common in high-density network deployments, especially in short-distance transmission data center networks. 40G DACs and 40G AOCs equipped with QSFP+ optical modules on one or both ends have a number of advantages, such as low power consumption, easy maintenance, stable performance, etc., which are cost-effective solutions for realizing 40G or 4x10G optical transmission. It is a cost-effective solution for 40G or 4x10G optical transmission.
40G Ethernet Switch
Although most IT professionals have decided that 10G networks will dominate the Ethernet market for a long time, for enterprises, upgrading from 10G Ethernet to 40G or even higher speeds is an inevitable choice to maintain their competitiveness. Since most users are still using 1G or 10G networks, switches that offer multiple rate options are more popular. As a result, most switch vendors offer multirate switches that can handle 10/25/40/100G speeds while meeting users' current and future needs. Because of this, a 40G Ethernet switch usually comes with some mix of SFP+, SFP28, QSFP+, and QSFP28 ports, and can be used as a core switch or a spine/aggregation layer switch in a data center.
Conclusion
While 40G Ethernet is clearly trending upwards, the question of whether next-generation Ethernet will move to 40G, 25G or 100G is still up in the air. Survival of the fittest, and whichever solution will emerge to meet the growing demands of the Internet, let's wait and see what happens in the end.
With the explosive growth of Internet traffic, the traditional 10G network has long been unable to meet user demand. Whether it is business users or individual users, high bandwidth has become a consistent vision. In the context of this megatrend, the era of 40G and 100G began to arrive. However, since the 100G market is still immature, 40G has become the preferred solution for most enterprise networks to upgrade their 10G networks. In this article, we will explore the development of 40G networks in depth, presenting the results of 40G development so far, one by one.
40G Ethernet Overview
As early as 2007, the IEEE 802.3ba working group first proposed 40G Ethernet as one of the high-speed Ethernet projects, and in 2010, 40G Ethernet was formally approved as an IEEE 802.3ba standard, which allows Ethernet frames to be transmitted at 40gbit/s. The standard also defines a set of specifications, including the backplane. The standard also defines physical layer specifications that include backplane, copper, and multimode single-mode fiber optic communications. With the development of 40G Ethernet, there are many new additions to the 802.3ba standard, such as 802.3bg-2011, 802.3bj-2014, 802.3bm-2015, and so on. The following table lists some 40GbE related IEEE standard specifications.
40G Ethernet Applications
Applying 40G Ethernet at the network layer typically requires a pair of QSFP+ optical modules connected to a patch cord, such as an OM4 or OM3 fiber optic patch cord. 40G optical modules are plugged into a network server or other component (e.g., a 40G switch) in sequence. Of all the 40G applications, 40G patch cords, 40G optical modules, and 40G switches are considered to be the leading top three 40G Ethernet network applications.
40G Patch Cords
40G patch cords can be divided into 40G Ethernet patch cords and QSFP+ fiber patch cords. 40G copper cables are generally not used in enterprise networks to access the network because they are more costly and less scalable than 10G copper cables, and so far only Cat8 copper cables are available for 40G networks. On the contrary, 40G fiber optic access to the network to be more diverse, the available fiber optic patch cords have 40G fiber optic branch patch cords (such as MTP-LC cable), trunk fiber optic cables (such as MPO trunk fiber optic cables) and conventional fiber optic patch cords such as OM3, OM4, SMF. Enterprise network users often use these patch cords simultaneously to realize 40G-40G transmission or even 10G to 40G network upgrade.
40G Optical Module
Based on the 40G protocol standards developed by the IEEE and MSA, there are two main types of 40G modules available on the market: QSFP+ modules and CFP modules.QSFP+ optical modules have four transmit and four receive channels and support 40G Ethernet single multimode fiber optic applications.CFP modules have a larger size specification than QSFP+, and are typically used for 100G Ethernet but also support 40G.Both module types have a number of interfaces. module types both have many different interface types. As networks evolve, new 40G module ports and standards continue to emerge. Some of the major interface types for 40G optical modules are listed below;
40G optical modules and 40G patch cords paired together are widely used in 40G network transmission due to their flexibility. However, as users demand higher and higher network speeds, 40G DACs and 40G AOCs are becoming more and more common in high-density network deployments, especially in short-distance transmission data center networks. 40G DACs and 40G AOCs equipped with QSFP+ optical modules on one or both ends have a number of advantages, such as low power consumption, easy maintenance, stable performance, etc., which are cost-effective solutions for realizing 40G or 4x10G optical transmission. It is a cost-effective solution for 40G or 4x10G optical transmission.
40G Ethernet Switch
Although most IT professionals have decided that 10G networks will dominate the Ethernet market for a long time, for enterprises, upgrading from 10G Ethernet to 40G or even higher speeds is an inevitable choice to maintain their competitiveness. Since most users are still using 1G or 10G networks, switches that offer multiple rate options are more popular. As a result, most switch vendors offer multirate switches that can handle 10/25/40/100G speeds while meeting users' current and future needs. Because of this, a 40G Ethernet switch usually comes with some mix of SFP+, SFP28, QSFP+, and QSFP28 ports, and can be used as a core switch or a spine/aggregation layer switch in a data center.
Conclusion
While 40G Ethernet is clearly trending upwards, the question of whether next-generation Ethernet will move to 40G, 25G or 100G is still up in the air. Survival of the fittest, and whichever solution will emerge to meet the growing demands of the Internet, let's wait and see what happens in the end.