infoTECH Feature

November 14, 2011

Ethernet Alliance Completes Multi-Vendor Plugfest

The Ethernet Alliance (News - Alert) has announced the successful completion of its most recent Data Center Bridging (DCB) interoperability plugfest.

The event attracted a broad range of cross-discipline, Ethernet Alliance member companies and was held at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL (News - Alert)) during the week of October 17. The growing number of participants highlights the industry’s increasing mastery of DCB technologies. The latest in a series of Ethernet Alliance-sponsored plugfests was dedicated to the testing of DCB technologies per IEEE (News - Alert) 802.1Qxx standards, the alliance has announced.

“The efforts to educate and accelerate new technology development and adoption provide confidence to both industries and consumers,” said Sunil Ahluwalia, chair, Ethernet for datacenter subcommitee, Ethernet Alliance in a company press release. “By providing this vital support and technology leadership to vendors, manufacturers, and the users they serve, the Ethernet Alliance is facilitating the continued growth and evolution of the global Ethernet ecosystem.”

The testing involved a diverse array of member companies, including CommScope Inc., Dell, Emulex, Extreme Networks, Inc., Intel Corporation, Ixia (News - Alert), JDSU, Nexans S.A., and Panduit Corp., and SANBlaze Technology, Inc. among others with various network topologies and interconnect technologies.

Offering construction and demonstration of an end-to-end DCB network via the IEEE 802.1Q standard DCBX protocol, a number of industry-firsts were achieved during the event, the alliance stated in a press release.

Recently, the alliance announced its participation at the 2011 Carrier Ethernet World Congress (CEWC) taking place in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Olaf Herr, Transport Go-to-Market manager, JDSU (News - Alert), is one of the panelists in the discussion titled, “WDM Service Evolution: 100G, TERABIT, and Beyond” at the Transport Network Strategies Conference, co-located with the 2011 CEWC. 

The panel will explore the future of 100G and terabit Ethernet in next-generation networks. The discussion will also highlight critical challenges and issues these key technologies may face.




Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Raju’s articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell
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