Cisco Systems is committed to the development of high-performance Ethernet technology and products that provide gigabit per second transmission rates to address both service provider and enterprise customer requirements. Cisco now delivers to customers a 1000BASE-T, gigabit over copper cabling solution enabling network managers to scale their wiring closets and data centers to gigabit speeds, while leveraging their investment in installed copper.

As part of Cisco Systems commitment to this technology, Cisco is investing aggressively in 10 Gigabit Ethernet product development and will bring to market complete networking solutions that enable our enterprise and service provider customers to scale their networks from 100 to 10,000 Mbps.

Gigabit Ethernet Products
Cisco's gigabit networking initiative spans multiple Cisco product lines that continually address customer challenges by leveraging Cisco technologies for delivery of multiple Gigabit Ethernet products with unparalleled performance for scaling campus networks to gigabit rates. These product families include:

• Cisco 12000 Series
• Catalyst 8500 Series
• Cisco 7500 Series
• Cisco 7200 Series
• Catalyst 6000 Family
• Catalyst 5000 Family
• Catalyst 4000 Family
• Catalyst 3500 XL
• Catalyst 2900 Family
• Catalyst 2900 XL
• Catalyst 2950 Series
• Catalyst 3550-12T Switch

1000BASE-T

Key benefits of the 1000BASE-T module:

• Allows gigabit speed transmission up to 100m over Category 5 cabling
• Ideally suited for applications such as server farm aggregation
• Provides a highly-reliable and cost-effective solution for high-speed server connectivity

Key features of the 1000BASE-T module:

• 14-port or 16-port Gigabit Ethernet module with RJ-45 interfaces
• IEEE 802.3ab standards compliant

10 Gigabit Ethernet

As a key member of the 10 Gigabit Ethernet Alliance, Cisco is leading the initiative to accelerate the introduction of 10 Gigabit Ethernet to the networking community. 10 Gigabit Ethernet will provide:

• Very high bandwidth
• Relatively low cost
• Scalability from 10 Mbps to 10,000 Mbps

LAN applications of 10 Gigabit Ethernet include:

• Server interconnect for clusters of servers
• Links between switches and servers
• Aggregation of multiple 1000BASE-X or 1000BASE-T segment into 10 Gigabit Ethernet downlinks
• Very high-speed connections between buildings