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TAKING THE NEXT STEP High-Performance Backbone Networks The next step toward upgrading the network infrastructure is to implement a high-speed LAN backbone such as 100 M-bps Fast Ethernet (100Base-T), 100 M-bps FDDI, or 155M-bps asynchronous transfer mode (ATM). Until recently, FDDI has been the backbone LAN technology of choice in the corporate marketplace, at one time holding more than 50% of the market. However, Fast Ethernet has been making steady inroads subsequent to completion of its standard. FDDI, an ANSI standard, is a mature technology more than a decade old. As such, FDDI products are widely available. 100Base-T, an IEEE standard, is quite new; however, because of its similarity to previous Ethernet standards such as 10Base-T, its incorporation into existing product lines has been quite rapid. Both technologies are worth consideration as a backbone network. In comparing the two, several points should be considered. For example:
Other Backbone Choices Several other high-speed technologies are vying for consideration for the backbone application or as a high-speed connection between servers: CDDI, 100VG-AnyLAN, and ATM. These standards are likely to find a place in the corporate network in the future, but unlike FDDI, each of them is still stabilizing.
Although ATM is rapidly becoming a feasible option as a network backbone technology, only leading-edge organizations are expected to implement it anytime soon. Transitioning to an ATM backbone need not be difficult. For those organizations with optical fiber, for example, there would not be any need to replace the fiber infrastructure. What ATM will require are new network interface cards for the server and concentrator or hub modules. Providing higher bandwidth to the backbone as well as the desktop improves network performance by increasing the amount of data that can be handled over the network. In addition to the options mentioned previously, switched 100M-bps technology can be deployed, and vendors also offer full-duplex technology, which further increases the scalability of existing technology. For example, full-duplex FDDI network provides a 200M-bps connection and allows users to send and receive data each at 100M bps. THE BIG CLOUD It is inevitable that todays shared medium, packet-based LAN technologiesEthernet and its high-speed derivatives, Token Ring, and FDDI will become impractical to implement to achieve the performance demands of the next generation of multimedia applications. FDDI II, a follow-up standard to FDDI designed to accommodate isochronous data, is also a solution that offers too little, too late. No manufacturers are spending R&D money on FDDI II. They are, however, heavily investing in ATM, a cell-switched technology that represents the next evolution in LAN and WAN technology.
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