IEEE Gigabit Ethernet Survey

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.

The purpose of this survey is to gather information on the current 

implementations and future strategies of networking professionals.  A committee 

of the IEEE is investigating a proposed standard for Gigabit Ethernet.  An 

explanation of Gigabit Ethernet follows this survey.


Name:
Company Name:
Address:
City, State, Zip:
Phone Number:
Fax Number:
Email Address:



Which of the following best describes your industry/organization?

____  Manufacturing
____  Retail
____  Service
____  Medical
____  Banking/Financial
____  Insurance
____  Education/Research
____  Other:


What is the revenue and number of employees in the organization?

How many networked nodes in the organization?

Please describe your installed cable plant. (In percentages if possible.)

_____%  UTP Category 3
_____%  UTP Category 4
_____%  UTP Category 5
_____%  Coax
_____%  Multi-mode fiber
_____%  Single mode fiber


Which of the following networking technologies are currently deployed in your 

organization:  (Again, in percentages if possible)

____  Ethernet
____  Token Ring
____  Fast Ethernet
____  FDDI
____  Other:


Do you plan to upgrade from Ethernet to Fast Ethernet?

____  in 1996
____  in 1998
____  in 2000



What technology is currently deployed in your backbone?


How much bandwidth do you think you will need in the backbone?

____  in 1996
____  in 1998
____  in 2000



What technologies are you currently using for high bandwidth applications, where 
are you using them, and what applications are you running?

____  ATM
____  Fiber Channel
____  FDDI
____  Fast Ethernet
____  Others:



Do you have any applications with high speed or high bandwidth network 

requirements? 

____  Imaging/Simulation
____  Video editing
____  CAD/CAM
____  Database/Data Storage
____  Video conferencing
____  Backbone Application
____  Others:



Do you expect to support any of these applications in the future?


What percent of your users will need high speed (100Mbps or greater)?

____  in 1996
____  in 1998
____  in 2000



What criteria are most important to you when selecting high speed networking 

technologies?

____  Raw Bandwidth/Speed
____  Protocol Support
____  Supported by NOSs and Applications used in the organization
____  Preserves Management Expertise and Tools
____  Cost of Implementation
____  Other(s):



Where do you go for information about high speed technologies?

____  Internal
____  Trade Press
____  Consultants/Analysts
____  Vendor Community



Have you heard of the proposed standard for Gigabit Ethernet?


Gigabit Ethernet is a proposed extension to Ethernet that will support a 1000 
Mbps transfer rate while retaining many of the familiar characteristics of 
existing Ethernet networks. It will support the same protocols and frame types 
as current 10 and 100 Mbps Ethernet networks, allowing your NOSs and 
applications to be supported without change.  Maintaining similar topology rules 
and the Ethernet CSMA/CD access method will also allow you to leverage your 
current expertise and management tools.  Gigabit Ethernet is expected to reach 
the street at around 2X the cost of current Fast Ethernet technologies.


Would you be interested in seeing such a technology developed?

Would you like more information on Gigabit Ethernet?