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10 Gigabit Ethernet

10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GE, 10GbE, or10 GigE) is a group of computer networking technologies for transmittingEthernet frames at a rate of 10 gigabits per second (10×109 or 10 billion bits per second). It was first defined by the IEEE 802.3ae-2002standard. Unlike previous Ethernet standards, 10 Gigabit Ethernet defines only full duplexpoint-to-point links which are generally connected by network switches; shared-medium CSMA/CD operation has not been carried over from the previous generations Ethernet standards.[1] Half duplex operation and repeater hubs do not exist in 10GbE.[2]

Like previous versions of Ethernet, 10GbE can use either copper or fiber cabling. However, because of its bandwidth requirements, higher-grade copper cables are required:category 6a or Class F/Category 7 cables for links up to 100m. The 10 Gigabit Ethernet standard encompasses a number of differentphysical layer (PHY) standards. A networking device, such as a switch or a network interface controller may have different PHY types through pluggable PHY modules, such as those based on SFP+.[3] At the time that the 10 Gigabit Ethernet standard was developed, interest in 10GbE as a wide area network (WAN) transport led to the introduction of a WAN PHY for 10GbE. The WAN PHY encapsulates Ethernet packets inSONET OC-192c frames and operates at a slightly slower data-rate (9.95328 Gbit/s) than the local area network (LAN) PHY.

Router with 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports and three physical layer module types

The adoption of 10 Gigabit Ethernet has been more gradual than previous revisions ofEthernet: in 2007, one million 10GbE ports were shipped, in 2009 two million ports were shipped, and in 2010 over three million ports were shipped,[4][5] with an estimated nine million ports in 2011.[6] As of 2012, the price per port of 10 Gigabit Ethernet relative to its one gigabit counterpart still hindered more widespread adoption, even though the price per gigabit of bandwidth enabled by 10 Gigabit Ethernet was already about one-third compared to the bandwidth cost of its one gigabit per second predecessor.