100Gb Ethernet and beyond: preparing for the exabyte Internet
There is continuing, and significant, growth in the amount of network data traffic that is being carried across the Internet associated with the uptake of newer, more demanding applications and services. These generic services include high-bandwidth video downloads, video-on-demand, VoIP, IPTV, Web 2.0, service cloud computing, virtual worlds and online multi-player gaming. These demands can only increase as consumers and educational users begin to expect High Definition TV and video over the Internet. Education and research establishments will also experience considerable bandwidth demands as experimental data generation/sharing and High Performance Computing reaches the 1000s of peta-bytes per month mark. The recent European EARNEST foresight study into the future of the technologies that are used to build research and education networks argued that there is a "requirement for ever-more bandwidth, as statistics show that Internet traffic is currently roughly doubling every year." Some commentators have described these developments as the precursor to the emergence of the "exabyte" Internet.
A result of this enormous traffic growth is that line rates for data transmission need to increase and one technology area which will have great impact in this regard is that of Ethernet. The transmission capacity of Ethernet has steadily grown, with Gigabit Ethernet (GE) being introduced in 1999 and 10 Gigabit (10 GE) in 2002. There has been a great deal of debate about how to take the technology forward to the next level with discussions focusing on the choice between 40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s. In 2007, the IEEE Higher Speed Study Group (HSSG) agreed to work on both standards. Some trial installations of 40 Gb/s have begun to appear (including within the JANET system), but work continues on the standards for the higher transmission rate. It is expected that 100 Gb/s standard will be approved around mid-2010 although there is considerable uncertainty.
This TSW report will therefore discuss the next generation of Wide Area Network (WAN) and LAN transmission systems for Internet traffic and in particular the forthcoming move to 100 Gb/s Ethernet. It will place these developments in the context of the continuing growth demands of Internet traffic and will also briefly consider emerging, longer-term data transmission technologies.
Greening ICT - reducing the eco-footprint
The Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change has proved a focal point for political and public sector discussion of the growing concern over the environmental impact of modern economies. As the report made clear there is indisputable scientific evidence that emissions from economic activity are causing changes to the Earth's climate and that in order to mitigate these effects all areas of the economy, including the public sector, must implement a wide range of economic and technological 'fixes'.
As leading players in the public services and as the key influential environment for young people, Higher and Further education establishments are increasingly being required to do 'their bit' with regard to environmental issues. There is growing awareness and pressure from regulators, management, staff and students alike to take necessary measures, and greener technologies need to be investigated and implemented within the university and college environment.
The public sector is almost certain to fall within the framework of a controlled process of carbon budgeting being proposed by the Government under the draft Climate Change Bill. In view of these developments JISC Technology and Standards Watch has commissioned a report into the greening of ICT to be published in summer 2008.
The JISC report will cover the subject of greening ICT in order to reduce energy consumption and carbon footprints, improve ICT-related waste management and encourage recycling and reuse of technology-related products and services. The report will pay particular attention to emerging technologies that can help to reduce the ICT carbon footprint by lowering energy use directly through their own lower energy requirements and through assisting other processes of energy reduction via automation. It will have a primary focus of looking ahead and providing horizon scanning information with regard to the development and implementation of novel technologies and ideas in the field of ICT energy reduction.
JISC Standards Watch report
JISC funds many people to attend specification and standards bodies, and between them they have a good knowledge of what is 'in process' inside these organisations. This information is important for JISC's forward planning in that it needs to know what specifications and standards are in the pipeline in order to carry out support, early implementation work and interoperability testing, in effect, shortening the time between inception and effective use, and thus increasing ROI in open standards. In addition, institutions want to have some idea of what standards will be ready for use in the near to medium term. To this end, JISC TechWatch has commissioned a Standards Watch report that will present an overview of the work undertaken by the JISC-funded, standards-based activities, and will speculate on the key standards and specifications that are coming through. The report will provide an overview of activity, a state of play report and a list of 'standards to watch' along with insights and guidance from acknowledged experts. There will also be a timeline indication of, for example, when the specification will be ready for experimental (JISC) use and for mainstream (institutional) use. The Standards Watch report is intended to complement existing JISC work in this area (see, for example, the JISC Standards Catalogue; The JISC Standards Catalogue wiki; and the eReSS list of standards).