The Ethernet Alliance (News - Alert) recently announced that it has successfully completed its TeraFabric Plugfest - a congregation of Ethernet product and technology vendors within a multi-vendor test environment and organized at the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL (News - Alert)). Achievements conceived and realized at the TeraFabric Plugfest help the Ethernet ecosystem in moving forward in their efforts developing the next generation of multi-vendor converged data center networks. The Ethernet Alliance is a global consortium that focuses on the advancement of Ethernet technologies. 

In a statement, Chauncey Schwartz, chair, Marketing Committee, Ethernet Alliance and senior technical marketing manager, Qlogic, said that, “This is the most diverse interoperability testing event the ethernet industry has seen to-date in terms of the sheer number of unique vendors, products, and technologies represented, all working in concert to accurately represent the entire spectrum of a converged data center. Using an approach incorporating multiple ethernet speeds, vendors, technologies, and protocols, we were able to successfully construct and transmit data through a 1Tb-capable fabric. Thanks to Ethernet’s continuing maturity and the solid foundation laid during the TeraFabric Plugfest, we’re ready to make the leap into tomorrow’s terabit-enabled future.”

 The event saw the realization of a number of achievements, which included the use of 10GBASE-T in data center bridging (DCB) architectures spanning the maximum length of 100-meters; and the first multi-vendor public test of the official IEEE (News - Alert) Data Center Bridging Exchange (DCBX) standard 802.1Qaz. Furthermore, 40GE was also successfully tested for the first time within a multi-vendor DCB environment, while cabling vendors carried out complete signal integrity testing for direct-attach copper cables.

Erica Johnson, director, UNH-IOL, said that, “With the increasing convergence of various technologies onto an Ethernet fabric, the demonstration of Interoperability will be paramount to the success of some of these new and emerging technologies. With over twenty years of Ethernet testing experience, the UNH-IOL was happy to assist the Ethernet Alliance as we seek to foster our vision for a more Interoperable future in an increasingly heterogeneous environment.”

Additionally, test cases were also conducted with direct-attach passive and active copper cables and also with direct-attach active optical cables. The event also saw the successful testing of 10GbE copper cables, which effectively demonstrated the interoperability between 40GbE deployments, and between different rates of Ethernet.