10-Gigabit Ethernet

10-Gigabit Ethernet (10-GBE), ratified in June 2002, is a logical extension of previous Ethernet versions. 10-GBE was designed to make the transition from LANs to Wide Area Networks (WANs) and Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs). It offers a cost effective migration for high-performance and long-haul transmissions at up to 40 kilometres. Its most common application now is as a backbone for high-speed LANs, server farms and campuses. It also enables you to connect geographically separated LANs to new MANs and WANs via dark fiber, dark wavelengths or SONET/SDH networks.

10-GBE uses the same layers (MAC, PHY and PMD), and the same frame sizes and formats. But the IEEE 802.3ae spec defines two sets of physical interfaces: LAN (LAN PHY) and WAN (WAN PHY).

The most notable difference between 10-GBE and previous Ethernets is that 10-GBE operates in full-duplex only and specifies fibre optic media. The chart below notes the differences between Gigabit and 10-Gigabit Ethernet.