[HSSG] Resend: [HSSG] The List
 
Dan,
 
I am trying to learn a little more about this, and I 
find your statement in  one of your 
 
notes  a bit 
surprising.  You state: 
  "Regarding 100G performance vs 
  cost, the argument supporting 100G is not performance/cost 
  because in the core/WAN, the ability to aggregate multiple 10G channels into a 
  single channel is paramount and cost is not. If you have 40Km of fiber in the 
  ground, digging a new trench and running 9 more fibers is not a likely 
  scenario and you can accommodate a reasonably  high cost for that 
  performance level."
I do not see how 
aggregating multiple 10G channels into a single 
logical channel
is relevant to 
supporting multiple 10G physical channels in a more 
compact
format, either through 
DWDM, higher bandwidth channels, or ribbon fibers.  In 
most
present cases, the first 
thing the programmers do to a single logical channel 
is
cut it apart into 
multiple virtual channels for traffic management 
purposes.  
I would expect that 
trend to continue on a high bandwidth backbone.  
Instead,
your scenario argues for 
higher single serial performance in a single fiber as 
well
as DWDM into the same 
fiber.  In no case does there appear to be a 
compelling
argument for creating a 
single logical image (or single MAC) for this scenario, 
but
rather  this argues for a study of 
interesting physical layer options combining  
multiple 10, 20, or 40 Gb/s   single-lane serial 
ports, each providing a complete  
single logical 
channel.
 
The place where a single 
logical image IS important is in transferring 
information
to/from an 
end-point.  And it is precisely that environment that is extremely cost 
sensitive.
It requires high degrees 
of integration, which argues for something on the order 
of
25 to 40 Gb/s to allow a 
single serial path (or at worst, a very undesirable 
narrow
parallel-serial path) to 
be supported from the sourcing NIC chips.  And of 
course,
such a higher bandwidth 
single serial path would also be convenient for packing 
into
a single fiber using 
DWDM as a component of a  core path.
 
Could you provide some 
pointers to HSSG work that demonstrates the necessity
that the 100G core path 
be a single logical channel (a single MAC)?
 
Sincerely,
 
Robert 
Snively