Forget it [Gbe] with today's technology. All long haul
systems use SONET framing. But with the 10Gbe standard
WAN PHY you can directly connect into a SONET
transponder and your ethernet will be carried transparently.
Agreed, for the most part, especially when one is solely dependent on the
incumbent carriers. I should point out, however, that some commercial enterprises
are leasing their own lambdas from dark fiber providers who are running native
GbE on their regional routes, both linear and ring-based, and those nets are
becoming rather expansive. One such network that I am intimately familiar with
now encompasses six northeastern states, and counting, adding segment after
segment. Jitter on the larger ring circumferences? Yes, you betcha. Compensated
for by either 3R regen or Layer 2 switching techniques or some other opaque-
inducing means.
When such routes are actually available and justifiable, the business problem
then centers on risk assessment. I.e., will those fiber carriers continue to be
viable for the foreseeable future? And so it goes...
FAC