No one would have predicted how pervasive and fast Ethernet would become in its early days. As an upstart, Ethernet was relegated strictly to networking PC’s in offices and campuses to share files and printers. Never the less, it may very well have become the defacto standard for most tiers of networking today. Surprisingly the technology has taken over without without any official certification process for devices, until now….
….vendors have simply done their best to comply with the published standards and to date there has not been an official certification process for Ethernet networking equipment.
As new Ethernet standards for 40 Gigabit (40GbE) and 100 Gigabit Ethernet (100GbE) approach, the Ethernet Alliance is ramping up to certify Ethernet for the next generation of equipment.
The Ethernet Alliance is at Interop this week, demonstrating the latest in Ethernet gear and standards. The new standards and efforts to certify those standards could help to speed adoption of the new technology when it is available. (Internet News)
While certification insures interopability from vendor to vendor, it also slows developement and adoption of new technology. I suppose it was inevitable that Bob Metcalf’s brainchild would have to grow up behave like a stodgy responsible adult eventually.
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