We are trying to be proactive. And vendors are responding to that need for speed. Next week Fore Systems will unveil a new switch, as well as hardware and software upgrades. This week, Cisco introduced a new Gigabit Ethernet switch. Hewlett-Packard also recently added Gigabit Ethernet uplinks to its ProCurve switch line.
Indications are that speed is also getting cheaper.
The number of ports in ATM LAN switching has grown 45 percent over the past year. Fore also is releasing ForeThought 6.0, its internetworking software. The company is positioning the device for use with server farms or to aggregate wiring closets. Cisco said support for Gigabit EtherChannel trunking provides high-speed links to the backbone. Cisco also shipped an 18-port Gigabit Ethernet card for its modular Catalyst 4000 line.