When you consider that gigabit gives you 10 times the performance for about three times the cost, the value looks good. Of course, if you know you won't exceed 100 Mbps, it's a waste of resources. Frankly, it's hard for us to to imagine how most desktop business applications will benefit from exceeding 100 Mbps of bandwidth in the near future, but as soon as they do, gigabit will be the solution. And if you can negotiate a good price on it, you'll have peace of mind from knowing you'll be in good shape for a long time to come.
Making the leap to gigabit or 100 Mbps requires the right cabling. Category 5 is suitable for 100 Mbps and typically for gigabit as well, but you'll need to have it tested to verify the latter, as such support is not guaranteed. Cat 5e was designed to tighten up the Cat 5 specs to make sure gigabit will work.
By now, we hope you're convinced that not everybody needs Gigabit Ethernet. That doesn't mean, however, that all new edge switches are off the bargaining table. VoIP (voice over IP) and its need for PoE (power over Ethernet), for example, provide some incentive, albeit specialized, to upgrade your edge switches.
If you're weak in the security department, remember that most switches now come with standardized, network-based authentication, or IEEE 802.1X. This feature can help you provide more security at the edge, preventing just anybody from plugging a laptop into a network behind your firewall. Most switches now have Layer 2 QoS via 802.1p traffic prioritization. Useful for VoIP phones that share an Ethernet connection with a desktop, this feature helps mitigate the need for gigabit technology at the edge (though gigabit will guarantee your voice traffic at the edge will never be stomped on, even without Layer 2 QoS).
Many new switches also come with IEEE 802.3af PoE. This feature provides 48 volts of power over the Ethernet connection and is handy for deploying many wireless access points that support the feature. PoE eliminates the need to schedule an electrician to power the access points, which can be in out-of-the-way locations. PoE can also be used for network-based cameras. The cost for PoE comes to about $100 per port for 100-Mbps connections, based on recent pricing of HP's ProCurve switches.
PoE is also important for centralizing VoIP phones' power source and eliminating the need for external power packs. Battery backup can even be done from the wiring closet. Whatever you do, though, make sure it follows the PoE standard, 802.3af, which was ratified in June of this year. And be careful: Some vendors are still selling prestandard proprietary versions. Make sure your PoE switch is guaranteed, in writing, to support 802.3af.
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