The 800Gbps per server Netflix is using is still based on 8 x 100GbE Port. This is 1600GbE Per Port. There is still plenty of room to grow.
wolrah•8mo ago
I would assume that this is also because Netflix is designing their CDN servers to be tied in to existing ISP networks, so they're using interfaces ISPs of sufficient size will be expected to have.
1.6TbE will surely eventually make it to ISP networks, but probably not any time soon. I'm certainly not an expert in ISP networking, but Wiki doesn't list any real long range variants of 800G or 1.6T being standardized either at the IEEE or vendor levels yet.
For now this is for high-density high-bandwidth cluster networking. Once there are long range variants I'm sure it'll start appearing in tier 1 ISP backbones, then moving down the line from there.
Part of me wants to say we'll never see this sort of speed in the last mile, but at the same time there was a point in my life where I dreamed of having a 128k ISDN line and now I have a five gigabit XGSPON at home from a national provider so who knows what the future brings.
ksec•8mo ago
Their server racks are in the same locations as those ISP exchanges so they dont need long distance variants. But I am guessing you are right being tied to those networks means 100Gbps Port will stay there for quite some time.
wolrah•8mo ago
Yeah, Netflix doesn't need the long distance interfaces but that's presumably what the ISPs' equipment is going to be built to interface with, so I would not be expecting them to be able to use such interfaces directly any time soon.
That said, sometimes these interfaces can be split (more common on the switch side than the NIC side) so one 800GbE interface can become 8x100GbE, or as the article mentions a 1.6TbE interface could be 8x200GbE, with a passive breakout cable of some variety.
ksec•8mo ago
wolrah•8mo ago
1.6TbE will surely eventually make it to ISP networks, but probably not any time soon. I'm certainly not an expert in ISP networking, but Wiki doesn't list any real long range variants of 800G or 1.6T being standardized either at the IEEE or vendor levels yet.
For now this is for high-density high-bandwidth cluster networking. Once there are long range variants I'm sure it'll start appearing in tier 1 ISP backbones, then moving down the line from there.
Part of me wants to say we'll never see this sort of speed in the last mile, but at the same time there was a point in my life where I dreamed of having a 128k ISDN line and now I have a five gigabit XGSPON at home from a national provider so who knows what the future brings.
ksec•8mo ago
wolrah•8mo ago
That said, sometimes these interfaces can be split (more common on the switch side than the NIC side) so one 800GbE interface can become 8x100GbE, or as the article mentions a 1.6TbE interface could be 8x200GbE, with a passive breakout cable of some variety.