Now, 800 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity is a real thing
In the wake of increasing demand for high-speed connectivity and data transmission, the Ethernet Technology Consortium (ETC) has announced the all-new 800 Gigabit Ethernet technology. The new standard, dubbed 800GBASE-R, builds on current technologies and promises to deliver two times more networking speed and throughput performance for ultra-fast computing. Here's all you need to know about it.
New 'wider version of 400 GbE'
The new standard, as the ETC explains, is a wider version of 400 Gigabit Ethernet. Basically, it uses the 106.25G lanes pioneered for 400GbE but doubles their number from four to eight to ensure enhanced data performance and throughput. This means that the existing Ethernet lanes are bonded together with additional ones as part of the new architecture defined by the group.
Improved performance on same hardware
According to AnandTech, the 800 Gigabit Ethernet standard will double the bandwidth for data centers and high-performance computing clusters managed by hyper-scale operators and website hosting companies. Plus, as it relies on the current generation of hardware, the standard inherits all attributes of the 400 GbE standard, including full-duplex support between two terminals and a minimum interpacket gap of 8-bit times.
Personal computing machines won't get these speeds though
While datacenters would get a big bandwidth push with the new standard, the same won't be the case for personal computing machines. As Techradar explains, notebooks/laptops, which still offer Ethernet connectivity, are likely to stick with 1 Gigabit technology (800 times slower than the one recently announced) in the near future as that's what modern-day motherboards (mainly) support right now.
Prices would be extremely high
That said, it is worth noting that the 800 Gigabit Ethernet package won't come cheap either. A Cisco Nexus 400 GbE 16-port switch costs over $11,000, so products using the 800 GbE standard would certainly cost a lot more. There's also no word on when the new standard would become available to potential data-hungry customers.
