[TriLUG] The next Arpanet? 10 Billion bits per second? "Woah"

[Ben Pitzer]

Keith is correct.  DWDM uses single-mode fiber, but uses software to break
each wavelength out as a different carrier signal.  Compression also allows
each wavelength to handle more data than standard fiber protocols.  It's
tricky, but very, very fast, and can turn large fiber trunks into monstrous
bandwidth haulers, and smaller fiber runs into significant trunks.

Unfortunately, the DWDM gear costs a great deal of money still, so until
prices come down, it won't be very practical in any but the largest of
enterprises.  And practically speaking, I doubt it'll ever have individual
host applications, but would be an option for a trunk to a multi-host
environment like a colo facility, data center, or large office setting,
especially one that might require multiple peer, or site-to-site secured
bandwidth (one width of light for standard Internet connectivity, one for
office to office VPN, etc).

Regards,
Ben Pitzer

---------------------------------------------

"Those that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
 --Ben Franklin--




> -----Original Message-----
> From: trilug-bounces at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-bounces at trilug.org]On
> Behalf Of Keith Johnson
> Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2004 12:52 PM
> To: Triangle Linux Users Group discussion list
> Subject: Re: [TriLUG] The next Arpanet? 10 Billion bits per second?
> "Woah"
>
>
> At 09:25 PM 3/3/2004 -0500, you wrote:
> >crimsun at fungus.sh.nu wrote:
> >
> >>On Wed, Mar 03, 2004 at 04:42:39PM -0500, Joshua Gitlin wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>Just saw this in the News and Observer. [
> >>>http://newsobserver.com/business/story/3385140p-3011134c.html
> ]. Thought
> >>>it might interest some people here. I'd love to learn more about it. I
> >>>can't tell if it's IP based, or what. Sounds cool though!
> >>>
> >>
> >>Take a look at http://www.nationallambdarail.org/architecture.html
> >>
> >>
> >If you read the fine print at this link, you may come to the realization
> >that I have: It's not 10Gb, it's 400Gb. They're using DWDM (Dense
> >Wavelength Division Multiplexing) - which from my fiber experience (many
> >years ago) sounds like the big brother to multi-mode fiber. With the
> >obvious differences being it works over distances previously
> only possible
> >via single-mode fiber (i.e. only one beam of light down one tube of
> >glass), and it's a heckuva' lot more transmission paths (beams of light
> >down one tube of glass).
> <snip>
>
> WDM and DWDM both use single mode fiber. The modes in MM fiber are there
> only because of the multiple injection angles of a single
> wavelength light
> source.
>
> keith
>
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