Having a 4-gig target is a lynchpin in the acceptance of 4-gig. In order for 4-gig to take off, youve got to have devices that can do that, says Steve Berg of Punk Ziegel & Co. This will keep 4-gig momentum moving forward and help push 10-gig back.
There have been other helpful pushes. The backers of 4-gig scored a victory in June when the Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA) approved the spec as a SAN fabric interconnect. (See FC Fires Up 4-Gig Fiesta, 4-Gig Fireworks, QLogic Starts 4-Gig Quest, and Fibre Channel SANs: 4G or Not 4G?.)
Fibre Channel switch-makers McData Corp. (Nasdaq: MCDTA) and Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BRCD) had opposed 4-Gig support, but even McData jumped on the bandwagon in October by announcing its intention to support the spec, albeit in 2005 (see McData Signs On for 4-Gig SANs).
Supporters of 4-Gbit/s FC maintain that, while the technology doubles the performance of 2-Gbit/s gear, the cost remains the same. Ten-gig Fibre Channel equipment, in contrast, could cost up to five times more than current products, they assert. Also, 4-Gbit/s gear is backward compatible with lower-speed FC products, while 10-Gig is not. That means a shift to 10-Gbit/s would require replacing all existing Fibre Channel equipment.
Ten-Gig was looking to be a little too expensive for system vendors, says Dan Reno, Hitachi GST manager of product strategy.
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