With the arrival of 10Gbe speed for the Ethernet, all sorts of matching applications spring up one by one. For these applications, the 10GBASE-T technology is one of the most commonly used technologies supporting 10Gbe Ethernet. In this post, we are going to explore this technology. Firstly, we will solve the question: what is 10GBASE-T?
What Is 10GBASE-T Technology？
Actually, the 10GBASE-T refers to a standard (IEEE 802.3) released in 2006. The standard allows chip manufacturers to develop and introduce compliant and interoperable devices, providing connections with the bandwidth of 10 Gbit/s and a maximum transmission distance up to 100 meters over the unshielded or shielded twisted pair cables.
Applications of 10GBASE-T Technology
After answering the question “What is 10GBASE-T”, we will move on the application part. To support the 10GBASE-T technology, there are many applications have come after it. Generally, there are three types of 10GBASE-T-based applications: 10GBASE-T cable, 10GBASE-T transceiver, and 10GBASE-T switch. Among all the three applications, the 10GBASE-T transceiver is commonly discussed by telecommunication technicians. In that case, the application of 10GBASE-T technology in transceiver will be the focus in this part.
Conventionally, the 10GBASE-T transceiver also refers to the 10GBASE-T SFP+ copper transceiver. It is mainly used over Cat6a or Cat7 copper cabling system for 10G transmission with a maximum distance up to 30 m. The transceiver combined with 10GBASE-T technology is compliant with SFF-8431 and SFF-8432 MSA. It can be regarded as the first 10G copper SFP+ RJ45 module that supports 10Gb/s communication over Ethernet copper cables. There are many brands of the 10GBASE-T transceiver in the market, such as Cisco 10GBASE-T transceiver and FS 10GBASE-T transceiver.
Figure 1: What Is 10GBASE-T Transceiver?
Benefits of 10GBASE-T Technology
Knowing “what is 10GBASE-T” as well as the applications under the 10GBASE-T technology especially the 10GBASE-T SFP plus copper transceiver, it’s time to figure out the benefits of it. Generally, there are four points:
- Backward compatibility. The standards-based 10GBASE-T is an interoperable technology, which can be deployed in the existing 1Gbe switch infrastructures in the data centers that are cabled with Cat6, Cat6a or above cabling. In that case, the 10GBASE-T copper network can be used to connect with existing 1G ports or upgraded 10G ports.
- Backward compatibility. The standards-based 10GBASE-T is an interoperable technology, which can be deployed in the existing 1Gbe switch infrastructures in the data centers that are cabled with Cat6, Cat6a or above cabling. In that case, the 10GBASE-T copper network can be used to connect with existing 1G ports or upgraded 10G ports.
- Extended reaching distance. The 10GBASE-T supports the cable length up to 100 meters, enough to support almost all data center topology. In that way, the IT technicians enjoy greater flexibility to cabling all sort of devices in the data center.
- Lower latency. Compared with the latency for 1000BASE-T ranging from sub-microsecond to over 12 microseconds, the 10GBASE-T has a much narrower latency range from just over 2 microseconds to less than 4 microseconds. With a larger packet size, the latency for the 10GBASE-T is more than 3 times lower than the 1000BASE-T.
- Reduced cost. The 10GBASE-T copper network usually uses Cat6 cable for cabling. And Cat6 cables are often cheaper than the comparable length fiber cables. Besides, copper cables like Cat6 do not consume power and their thermal designs require less cooling procedures, extensive savings on operating expenditures within the data center will be saved.
Summary
Conclusively, in this post, three questions have been solved: What is 10GBASE-T technology? What are the applications of the 10GBASE-T? What are the benefits 10GBASE-T? With the development of the 10GBASE-T, it has been a mature and reliable technology. Now, the 10GBASE-T has gradually brightened its way out in the 10Gbe network deployment.