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10 Gigabit Ethernet - technical definition

Standardized by the IEEE as 802.3ae, 10GbE uses the same frame format and medium access control (MAC) layer as predecessor Ethernets. 10GbE runs only in full-duplex (FDX) mode, which makes collision control unnecessary.The primary line coding technique used in both 10GbE and GbE is 8B/10B, which carries a 25 percent overhead penalty, thereby forcing the system to run at a signaling rate of 125 Gbps. Some 10GbE systems use the more recently developed 64B/66B line coding, which is similar but much more efficient.Although the signaling rates discourage the use of copper transmission media, 802.3ae currently specifies 10GBase-T for short distances using Cat 6 and Cat 7 twisted pair. Fiber optic systems are preferable, however, and 802.3ae specifies a number of options, including 10GBase-SR, SW; 10GBase-LR, LW; 10GBase-ER, EW; and 10GBase-LX4. 10GbE has application in the backbones of very bandwidth intensive local area networks (LANs) and metropolitan area networks (MANs). See also 10GBase-CX4; 10GBase-SR, SW; 10GBase-LR, LW; 10GBase-ER, EW; 10GBase-LX4; 64B/66B; 802.3ae; 8B/10B; Cat 6; Cat 7; IEEE; LAN, line coding; MAC; MAN; overhead; and signaling rate.

StandardFiber TypeCore DiameterWavelengthDistance (Maximum) 10GBase-SR, SW MMF 62.5

See 10 Gigabit Ethernet in Computer

An Ethernet standard that transmits at 10 Gbps. Introduced in 2002 and abbreviated "10 GbE," "10GE" or "10G Ethernet," it extended the familiar and ubiquitous Ethernet used in local area networks (LANs) to high-speed storage networks (SANs) as well as backbones in large enterprise networks and wide area and metropolitan area networks. See LAN, SAN, WAN and MAN.

Full Duplex and No Collisions
10G Ethernet works only in full-duplex mode and does not support CSMA/CD, the common Ethernet collision method used to gain access to the physical medium. A "WAN interface sublayer" (WIS) makes 10G Ethernet compatible with the SONET transport at 10 Gbps (OC-192). See SONET.

Fiber or Copper
The 10GBASE-LX4 version (see below) carries four wavelengths of light on one pair of fibers. In 2004, 10G Ethernet over copper wire was introduced. Using four twinaxial cables, the copper version was designed for short distances between switches and storage devices in the datacenter. See Ethernet and FCoE.

 10G ETHERNET OVER FIBER (IEEE 802.3ae)

               Dark
               Fiber or   Fiber       Maximum
 Version       SONET      Type        Distance

 10GBASE-SR    Fiber    MMF/850 nm    65 meters
 10GBASE-LRM   Fiber    MMF/1310 nm  220 meters
 10GBASE-LRM   Fiber    MMF/850 nm   260 meters
 10GBASE-LX4   Fiber    MMF/1310 nm  300 meters

 10GBASE-LR    Fiber    SMF/1310 nm  10 kilometers
 10GBASE-ER    Fiber    SMF/1550 nm  40 kilometers
 10GBASE-ZR**  Fiber    SMF/1550 nm  80 kilometers
 10GBASE-LX4   Fiber    SMF/1310 nm  10 kilometers

 10GBASE-SW    SONET    MMF/850 nm   65 meters

 10GBASE-LW    SONET    SMF/1310 nm  10 kilometers
 10GBASE-EW    SONET    SMF/1550 nm  40 kilometers

   MMF = multimode fiber
   SMF = singlemode fiber
    ** = non standard


 10G ETHERNET OVER COPPER (IEEE 802.3ak)

 Version     Use         Cable        Max. Distance

 10GBASE-CX4 Datacenter  Twinax       15 meters