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From: mel1@houxa.UUCP (M.HAAS)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans,comp.protocols.tcp-ip,comp.protocols.misc
Subject: Higher speed LANs ?
Message-ID: <541@houxa.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 20-Jun-87 11:12:25 EDT
Article-I.D.: houxa.541
Posted: Sat Jun 20 11:12:25 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 25-Jun-87 06:21:52 EDT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Holmdel
Lines: 37
Xref: mnetor comp.dcom.lans:575 comp.protocols.tcp-ip:443 comp.protocols.misc:92

Is anyone working on higher speed LANs?  We have lots of conversation
here on ISO, TCP/IP, and ISO vs. TCP/IP, but they all seem to be
content with the same old (what, 12 years now?) speed.  Ethernet at
10Meg, twisted pair stuff at 1 or 2Meg, fiber backbones at 80 and
100Meg.  But, disk to disk rates are still down at 20K to 100K bytes
per second.

What are the issues that keep us down at such low rates?  The disks
themselves are now in the 500K to 2Meg bytes per second range. 
Backplanes and memory are up in that range.  Certainly, interface
logic can go that fast (it does to disks, why can't it to LANs?).

In theory one can stuff bits down an Ethernet at 1,500K bytes per
second.  Why is it such a struggle to get 200K bytes per second
onto it?

It seems to me that diskless workstations, bitmapped terminals with
windows, cartograpy, medical and satellite image processing, weather
map transmission, video/music/speech processing, and lots of other
applications need high speed transfer of individual files.  Rather,
than the large number of users sending small items of data that the
current LANs handle so nicely.

Are there fundamental problems with TCP/IP that limit its application
to higher speed use?  Are the new ISO protocols better for high speed
file transfer?  Or, is the problem in the operating systems or
interface to the computer bus?  Can the high speed backbone fiber
networks be made to handle individual computer to computer or
computer to terminal traffic?  Or, it there some fundamental issue
that keeps them in the LAN to LAN bridging application?

I know that there are propritary protocols and links that go much
faster, but is it necessary to throw out the standards and ability
to internet and use diverse equipment and applications to get the
higher speed?

   Mel Haas  ,  odyssey!mel