What is all of this about test equipment?
Verification and validation of 10 Gigabit Ethernet on a budget.What the Ethernet tester can really do, and what the costs are.What Ethernet testers are commonly available.This white paper is going to deep dive into some key areas such as:
No, this technology won’t make your Internet connection any faster, but paying a large amount of money to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) every month might do the trick! How to get from Point A to Point B: Testing The article The Need for Speed dives deeply into where 10GBASE-T might come in handy. The answer is that it might have an immediate benefit in the Local Area Network (LAN) due to file sharing needs internally, like video editing How can 10 Gigabit networking benefit the so-called “Average Joe”?
Even folks with existing Cat6 Ethernet cable can get into the game as long as they obey the distance limits as detailed in The Difference Between Cat6 vs Cat6A Ethernet Cable. Reasonable access to a true 10 Gigabit compatible network is now becoming a reality. It is the cost of the associated network infrastructure like switches that impart “sticker shock.” Stringent installation requirements don’t help either, but that is for another article.Ĭat6A Ethernet cable is readily available and less expensive 10GBASE-T compatible switches are making a debut. See more here about Just What is NBASE-T. The cabling costs have never been the primary roadblock to 10 Gigabit Ethernet. These newer microchips add additional perks like support for 2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T, which is another great boon to Local Area Networks. Aquantia is one of the firms making microchips and Network Interface Cards (NICs) that enable this technology at a lower cost. Companies like Aquantia, amongst others, are making this happen. 10 Gigabit over copper-twisted-pair Ethernet cable is now becoming less expensive to deploy. Extremely high costs kept it out of reach for all but the wealthiest individuals and smaller businesses. This technology has been around since 2004 (ANSI/TIA ratified in 2008). First, A Little Backgroundġ0 Gigabit Ethernet, or 10GBASE-T, is typically the fastest Ethernet link technology found outside of large data centers and still not common. The main focus of this article is how to test 10 Gigabit Ethernet without having to do something illegal, just to afford the test equipment. At the very least, they have not documented their trials and tribulations for the rest of us! My goal is to help change that, so please keep reading.
Up until now, this area has been the purview of professional network engineers and for the most part, they are not talking. Secondarily, there is a distinct lack of information out there about how to test this technology to make sure it’s performing as it should. You see, while the rest of the technology world has been seeing price reductions there is one corner of it that will still cost dearly: test equipment. Not just hairy, but off-the-rails, train-wreck-style hairy.
This is where everything gets quite hairy. If yes, the next question is often “How do I test this stuff?” After all, you spent all of this money on new network gear and want to know you got your money’s worth.
Written by Don Schultz, trueCABLE Technical Sales Representative & Fluke Networks Certified Technician Are you ready to take the plunge into 10 Gigabit networking? Testing 10 Gigabit Ethernet Over Copper on a Shoestring Budget