The demand for Ethernet circuits is rapidly growing. Ethernet service and equipment providers alike are expanding their offerings to meet the increasing customer demand for greater bandwidth. It is the IT departments that are driving this bandwidth boom.

Let’s start with the basics. Ethernet was originally designed for small LANs (Local Area Networks). The basic LAN connected multiple devices (client computers, printers, faxes, etc.) to switches and servers. The servers would handle various functions, from the file storage and printing to providing applications and data to the clients. As businesses expanded to new locations, the new sites had to be connected to the servers at the host. Historically, this WAN (wide Area Network) connectivity was handled using T1’s, T3’s, frame relay, OC3’s, etc.

Ethernet is a LAN environment that typically delivers 100Mb (Fast Ethernet - FastE ) speeds and up to 1000 Mb (Gigabit Ethernet), much faster than a T1 line (1.5 mb) or even a T3 line (45Mb). Remote sites had to either deal with slower performance, or businesses had to come up with data centers and WAN solutions to provide the speed an end user needs.

Over the last few years, businesses have invested heavily in data centers. The data centers particularly in large cities where bandwidth is readily available, house servers, switches and routers, are often on site at primary enterprise locations, with backup facilities being housed in off site location spaces. These off site locations are built to protect against disaster. In fact, many enterprises have installed multiple data centers located throughout the country, all connected to each other. This is where we have already seen an increase in demand for large bandwidth Ethernet services (100Mb+). These data centers provide real time data applications and need to have the speed and reliability to deliver.

Now, let’s go back and look at the applications that businesses are running on the servers in their data centers. The applications are robust and demand a great deal of bandwidth. Hosting applications like CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and e-commerce support distributed call centers enabling enterprises to provide customer service across time zones or with a distributed work force. Online training programs (many in video form) allow remote users new training options without having to travel. CCTV and video surveillance of buildings are being handled and stored on servers. Voice services, which require QoS, are being run over the network, with the Call control/PBX functions being housed on a server. Remote users using VPN tunnels are supported and pulling down data and voice applications. And finally, don’t forget broadband Internet whether they’re T1 lines or DS3 connections, is a necessity on almost every workstation.

Ethernet is an easy way for IT managers to understand. Since it was originally designed for the LAN, IT personnel are comfortable using it. With the advent of carrier class Ethernet, the IT staff is able to use something they know when building their WAN. It also prevents the need for T1 and T3 cards for their routers. The upgrade path for T1s and T3s is expensive and frustrating when you have to add a new card to a router for each bandwidth up tick. Ethernet lines, whether it is 5Mb. 20Mb or 100Mb or more is the same connection and much easier to handle for the IT department.

In addition, the applications will continue to grow and use more bandwidth. This can be seen simply in the way servers are sold. Servers used to ship with 100Mb network cards. Now, the standard is a 1000Mb (GigE ) network card and 10Gig network cards are on the way. Hardware and application providers clearly anticipate the need to distribute data at faster and faster speeds. Enterprises have also begun to consolidate servers and data centers, which will increase the bandwidth needs for Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) links to connect data centers at bandwidth speeds beyond the levels we see today. Whether it is 5Mb Ethernet for small remote locations, or Gigabit Ethernet to connect data centers, demand for Ethernet connections is going to continue.

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