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Gigabit Nets: Ready for SOHO?

NetGear targets small businesses with relatively low-cost gigabit Ethernet card and switch.

By Stan Miastkowski, PCWorld   

Gigabit Ethernet, as the name implies, transfers network data at 1000 megabits per second (that works out to about 125 megabytes per second). That's ten times the speed of 100-mbps Ethernet, and 100 times faster than still-common 10-mbps networks.

This technology has been widely available for the past year or so, but major network players such as 3Com and Hewlett-Packard have aimed their gigabit hardware squarely at large corporations with the technology used for network "backbones" that interconnect servers and multiple locations.

And it's been expensive, too. A typical gigabit network card currently costs about $2000, with essential add-ons like gigabit switches costing in the $3000 to $4000 range.

NetGear, however, feels that it isn't just large corporations that need Gigabit Ethernet. NetGear marketing manager Stephen Dix admits that Gigabit Ethernet is "a little bit ahead of the curve" for most users right now, but is useful for networks with data-intensive applications such as graphics or streaming video.

The GA620 Gigabit Network Card for Servers sells for $465 and is available immediately. It has its own processor and memory, designed to take the substantial job of handling large amounts of net data away from the server processor.

An Optical Fiber Diet

Because the GA620, like all current Gigabit Ethernet hardware, uses an optical fiber connection instead of common twisted-pair networking cable, you also need an Ethernet switch that can handle a fiber connection. (The next generation of Gigabit Ethernet--due later this year--will use copper cable.)

In April, NetGear will ship the FS509 Fast Ethernet Switch, which is expected to sell for about $1450. The switch has eight ports for connecting workstations or hubs operating at standard 10 or 100 mbps network speeds, and a fiber Gigabit uplink port that connects to the GA620 network card. Because fiber cables aren't the type of item you're likely to find at your local computer superstore, the FS509 includes the required cable.

Don't Try This at Home

Is Gigabit Ethernet really practical for small businesses? "It's not a stupid idea, although you can take the 'HO' out of SOHO," says Warren Childs, an analyst with International Data Corporation. "It's not for the home."

Childs says that for the time being, NetGear's Gigabit Ethernet products will find a home in niche markets like computer-aided design, while at the same time building wider awareness of the technology. And he says they also makes sense for companies that are planning for long-term future network expansion.

Mark Thompson, Gigabit Ethernet product manager for Hewlett-Packard, doesn't see wide use of the technology in small businesses for at least at year, when lower-cost copper-based Gigabit Ethernet should become widely available. But for right now, Thompson suggests that it's "impossible to find a desktop PC that really needs the speed of Gigabit Ethernet."