Talk About 2.5G And 5G

Network technology is developing rapidly. To keep up with the trend, data centers are required to upgrade constantly, from 10G to 40G, 40G to 100G and even 100G to 400G. However, for some small business data centers with 1G infrastructures, directly migrating from 1G to 10G is a little fast. Is there any slower Ethernet standards to fill the gap between 1G Ethernet and 10G Ethernet speeds? The answer is Yes—2.5 Ethernet and 5G Ethernet. This article will talk about 2.5G and 5G.

Overview of 2.5G And 5G

The physical (PHY) layer transmission technology of IEEE 802.3bz is based on 10GBASE-T, but operates at a lower signaling rate. By reducing the original signal rate to  1/4 or  1/2, the transfer rate drops to 2.5 or 5 Gbit/s, respectively. The spectral bandwidth of the signal is reduced accordingly, lowering the requirements on the cabling, so that 2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T can be deployed at a cable length of 100 meters on unshielded Cat5e cable and Cat6 cable, respectively. The following figure shows the comparison of twisted pair based Ethernet technologies.

Cons And Pros of 2.5G/5G Ethernet Standards

As 2.5G and 5G Ethernet standards came out after 10G Ethernet standard, there are mixed reviews for them. This part will focus on cons and pros of 2.5G/5G Ethernet standards.

Cons of 2.5G And 5G

When 2.5G Ethernet and 5G Ethernet standards came out, many people didn’t think much of them. They commented that:

• 5GBase-T and 5GBase-T are more going to be used for wifi rollouts. And they are pretty much strictly for enterprise wireless deployments.
• 10GbE is getting pretty cheap. Lots of new desktop motherboards now have 10G NICs inside them and the premium seems to be less than $100 too, which isn't too bad. What's missing is a bunch of 10G home switches and routers.
• As for the availability, the 10G has 2 models out while the 2.5G and 5G are both "coming soon". Due to the economies of scale and the penetration, 10G already has IMO. While 2.5G and 5G will never be widely adopted or supported.
• There are not that many chip sets that support 2.5G Ethernet and 5G Ethernet yet as they really only got finalized. Also, most cards that support them right now also support 10Gbe.

Pros of 2.5G And 5G

What exists is reasonable. One estimate is that there are 70 billion meters of Cat5e and Cat6 cabling have been sold between 2003 and 2014. With such a significant amount of existing infrastructure at stake, it's hardly surprising that most enterprises want to extend the existing cabling, component and equipment investments in the standard Ethernet wireless closet. Therefore, it is not difficult to find that 2.5G Ethernet and 5G Ethernet standards have their advantages.

• Cat5 and Cat6 cabling can’t support 10G Ethernet up to 100 meters, but they will be able to support the emerging 2.5Gbps and 5Gbps standards, thereby preserving the value of the existing copper cable plant.
• Adopting new 2.5G and 5G can satisfy the need of increasing data rates of wireless networking. The new 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard increases wireless bandwidth, supporting Ethernet speeds of 1.7 Gbps to 2.5 Gbps. With the coming of the next generation of wireless networking, 802.11ac Wi-Fi Wave 2, wireless network speeds could increase to as high as 6.8 Gbps.
• Besides the need from the Wi-Fi industry, a 2.5G/5G version will also aid in other applications such as enterprise infrastructure, cellular Wi-Fi offloads, small cells, security cameras, multiple industrial uses and PoE technology.
• These two new Ethernet standards have plenty of attributes to ensure success, such as ease of use, backward compatibility, faster speeds without requiring a cable upgrade, incremental speed upgrades, multi-vendor interoperability, not to mention optimized cost and performance.

Conclusion

From the above content, we can conclude that 2.5G/5G Ethernet standards have both pros and cons. For those who want to upgrade cabling system to 10G, 2.5G/5G is not useful. While for small business and home network, 2.5G/5G is a cost-effective solution. No matter what your cable plant is, choosing a suitable migration path is the most important thing. 

Originally published at: http://www.fiber-optical-networking.com/talk-about-2-5g-and-5g.html

Introduction to HP ProCurve 2910al Switch Series

As telecom industry develops rapidly, the size of data center becomes larger and the data transmission speed becomes higher. And many data centers have moved to 40G and 100G. For small and middle size business, 10gb switch occupies a dominant market. HP switch, characterized by its high quality and low price, is popular with small data center network designers. This article will give an introduction to HP ProCurve 2910al Switch Series.

Overview

The HP ProCurve 2910al Switch Series consists of four 10gb ethernet switches, which are HP ProCurve 2910al-24G switch, HP ProCurve 2910al-24G-PoE+ switch, HP ProCurve 2910al-48G switch and HP ProCurve 2910al-48G-PoE+ switch. These switches can be deployed at enterprise edge and remote branch offices, converged networks, and data center top of rack. They are featured with IPv6 host which allows the switches to be managed and developed at the edge of IPv6 networks. Designed with up to four optional and flexible 10G ports (CX4 and/or SFP+), they can provide 10G connectivity. They are high-performance Gigabit access switches which can cost-effective and scalable solution for your network deployment. Here is a figure of HP ProCurve 2910al Switch Series for you.

Network Ports of HP ProCurve 2910al Switch Series

Both HP ProCurve 2910al-24G switch and HP ProCurve 2910al-24G-PoE+ switch have twenty 10/100/1000 ports, four dual-personality ports one RJ45 serial console port and four 10G ports. While HP ProCurve 2910al-48G switch and HP ProCurve 2910al-48G-PoE+ switch have forty-four 10/100/1000 ports, four dual-personality ports one RJ45 serial console port and four 10G ports. With different port number, their switching capacities are different: 128 Gbps switching fabric with up to 95 Mpps for 24 port switch and 176 Gbps switching fabric with up to 131 Mpps for 48 port switch. For application in data center, different ports on the switch are connected with corresponding optical components.

• 10/100/1000 ports: All these ports have the “Auto MDIX” feature, which means you can use either straight-through or crossover twisted-pair cables to connect any network devices to the switch.
• Dual-personality ports: Each port can be used as either an RJ45 10/100/1000 port or as a mini-GBIC slot for use with mini-GBIC transceivers. By default, the RJ45 connectors are enabled. If a mini-GBIC is installed in a slot, it is enabled and the associated RJ45 connector is disabled and cannot be used. If the mini-GBIC is removed, the associated RJ45 port is automatically re-enabled.
• 10G ports: These ports provide connectivity for 10G speed though either copper or fiber optic media (CX4 and/or SFP+).
• For PoE+ switch, the RJ45 connector also supplies PoE+ power until a mini-GBIC is installed. That means the PoE+ power is turned off when a mini-GBIC is plugged in.

Cabling Solutions

With 10/100/1000 ports, HP ProCurve 2910al Switch Series can be used for 1G to 1G connection. Just respectively plug two SFP transceiver modules into 1G ports on two switches, then connect the two SFP transceiver modules with a fiber optic cable. Besides, 10G to 10G connection can be accomplished by using 10G DAC cable. Therefore, it is very simply to utilize HP ProCurve 2910al Switch Series in data center. The following table shows supported fiber optic transceiver, optical fiber cable for HP ProCurve 2910al Switch Series.

Conclusion

In addition to providing cost-effective solution for small size business, a lifetime warranty offered by HP makes HP ProCurve 2910al Switch Series particularly a great choice. For transceiver and cable, you can go to FS.COM, which provides high quality compatible SFP, SFP+ transceiver, 10G SFP+ DAC cable and optical cable. 

The Application of PoE

With the development of communication technology, different communication products are available on the market. Among them, there are some products popular with home network deployment, such as IP phone, wireless access point and IP camera. Recently, PoE technology is highly recommend for home network application. It is an IEEE standard for simultaneously transmitting data and low-voltage power throughout a network using a single Ethernet cable. This article will introduce the application of PoE.

PoE Devices

Before we come to the application of PoE, let’s have a look at PoE devices at first.

PoE Switch

A PoE switch is a network switch that has Power over Ethernet injection built-in. It is straightforward to add PoE to your network. Simply connect other network devices to the PoE switch as normal, and the switch will detect whether they are POE-compatible and enable power automatically. PoE switches are available to suit all applications, from low-cost unmanaged edge switches with a few ports, up to complex multi-port rack-mounted units with sophisticated management.

PoE Injector and PoE Splitter

A PoE injector is used to add PoE capability to regular non-POE network links. It can be used to upgrade existing LAN installations to PoE, and provide a versatile solution where fewer PoE ports are required. A PoE splitter also supplies power to a device and it is useful for deploying devices such as access points that are not POE ready and where there are no nearby AC outlets. The main difference between PoE injector and PoE splitter is that PoE splitter splits the power from the data to a separate input that the device can use, and there will be two cables for output: one for data and one for power. Here is a figure that show typical PoE Injector and PoE Splitter applications.

From the figure we can see that, upgrading each network connection to PoE is as simple as patching it through the PoE injector, and as with PoE switch, power injection is controlled and automatic. It is also possible to upgrade powered devices to PoE by using a PoE splitter.

Why Should I Use PoE Devices?

Without PoE, you have to make a choice between running a power cable to the area where you want to deploy a network device or deploying network devices based on where existing power outlets are available. PoE provides greater flexibility and ensures that you will never have to compromise when deploying network devices. It dramatically simplifies the process of installing APs, IP cameras, IP phones, and other PoE enabled devices in hard-to-reach, outdoor, and remote areas.

Conclusion

With PoE technology, PoE switch is specifically designed to supply power to network devices. Managed and unmanaged PoE switch are available on the market, allowing you to transmit electrical power and data via a single network cable. This makes it easier than ever to expand your network into areas where power sockets are not accessible. FS.COM provides quality PoE/PoE+ switch for network deployment, such as 8 port PoE/PoE+ managed switch, 24 port PoE/PoE+ managed switch and 48 port PoE+ managed switch.