Cat6 cables and Cat5e devices.

RimBlock

RimBlock

RimBlock

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Hi,

If, as I understand it, cat6 is rated for 10Gbit/s, will this allow me to run 10 1Gbit/s transfers with PC's having only cat5e network cards (i.e. 10 connections at 1Gb/s between 10 pairs of different network devices).

I am aware that Cat5e equip should not be able to use the full cat6 bandwidth in one hit but can the full bandwidth of cat6 be shared between multiple cat5e devices to get better throughput that they would over cat5e cables ?

Hope this is at least partially clear :D.

Cheers
RB
 
Gigabit ethernet devices do not have a wide range of frequencies, so as to 'stack' them on top of eachother on a single piece of cable.

You will need to have 10gbit cards at either of your cable to get those speeds.
 
Also just to be specific, only Cat6a allows 10Gb over the full 100m length, standard cat6 does allow for 10Gb speeds but only over shorter runs.

As has already been mentioned, the cable is of less importance because the NIC (network interface card) will only support 1Gb/s max, unless you pay out for an Expensive 10Gb/s card and devices.
 
RimBlock said:
If, as I understand it, cat6 is rated for 10Gbit/s, will this allow me to run 10 1Gbit/s transfers with PC's having only cat5e network cards (i.e. 10 connections at 1Gb/s between 10 pairs of different network devices).

I am aware that Cat5e equip should not be able to use the full cat6 bandwidth in one hit but can the full bandwidth of cat6 be shared between multiple cat5e devices to get better throughput that they would over cat5e cables ?

Hope this is at least partially clear :D.

Cheers
RB
Click to expand...

If you have 10 pairs of 1Gb devices, then a single Gb switch between them will give 10x 1Gb transfers simultaneously, no Cat6 required. The use for 10Gb cable in your scenario would be either:
1) You have one device e.g. server that is powerful enough to feed its 10Gb NIC, which needs to be accessed at full speed by 10x 1Gb devices.
2) Each pair of 1Gb devices cannot be connected to a single switch and must be split onto 2 switches separated by a single cable run. The run would have to be 10Gb to avoid bottlenecking between the switches.

In both cases the switch would need at least one 10Gb port and the rest could be 1Gb. The above assumes that the connections will be maxed. In practice it is rare to max a single 1Gb link for any length of time (if at all on home kit), never mind 10 device pairs simultaneously. 10Gb NICs/switches are still very expensive. Right now if you need faster than 1Gb it is cheaper to use link aggregation in servers or port trunking between switches; essentially these both work by combining several slower links e.g. 3x 1Gb to make a single virtual link of 3Gb. People wiring homes/offices for 10Gb are primarily doing it for future-proofing rather than any current need (with the exception of custom HD video distribution).
 
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vsmora said:
The use for 10Gb cable in your scenario would be either:
1) You have one device e.g. server that is powerful enough to feed its 10Gb NIC, which needs to be accessed at full speed by 10x 1Gb devices.
2) Each pair of 1Gb devices cannot be connected to a single switch and must be split onto 2 switches separated by a single cable run. The run would have to be 10Gb to avoid bottlenecking between the switches.

In both cases the switch would need at least one 10Gb port and the rest could be 1Gb. The above assumes that the connections will be maxed. In practice it is rare to max a single 1Gb link for any length of time (if at all on home kit), never mind 10 device pairs simultaneously. 10Gb NICs/switches are still very expensive. Right now if you need faster than 1Gb it is cheaper to use link aggregation in servers or port trunking between switches; essentially these both work by combining several slower links e.g. 3x 1Gb to make a single virtual link of 3Gb. People wiring homes/offices for 10Gb are primarily doing it for future-proofing rather than any current need (with the exception of custom HD video distribution).
Click to expand...

Thanks all.

Yes, the question was really " are cat5e NICs limited to transferring at 1Gb/s through themselves due to processing power of the NIC (lets assume the server can process more) or by usable bandwidth in the cable or a combination of both."

vsmora said:
If you have 10 pairs of 1Gb devices, then a single Gb switch between them will give 10x 1Gb transfers simultaneously, no Cat6 required.
Click to expand...

Ok, good. Thanks.

snapshot said:
How is a cable going to give you more bandwidth than the NIC can handle? What is it connected to to be able to do this?
Click to expand...

Yes, I should have been clearer there. I meant throughput rather than bandwidth.

So in essence, switches can handle multiple 1Gb/s individual connection pairs. Cat5e is not limited by the cable used but by the NICs ability to use the available frequency range and its ability to handle volume throughput.

If I wanted multiple 1Gb/s connections to a single server (NAS for example with HD content) Then I would need a 10Gbit NIC on the NAS (or multiple 1Gb/s NICS) and a switch with at least 1 10Gbit port and xxx number of 1Gb/s ports. Cat6 cable between the server and the switch and cat5e from the switch to other devices. Cat5e NICs in the other devices.

What I may do then is cable up for cat6 but socket up for cat5e as the cat6 wall boxes etc are still very expensive compared to cat6.

I am thinking of building a home NAS rather than using the DLink 323 so I will check out the 10Gbit NICs. Any suggestions / recommendations ?

Thanks
RB
 
RimBlock said:
Thanks all.

If I wanted multiple 1Gb/s connections to a single server (NAS for example with HD content) Then I would need a 10Gbit NIC on the NAS (or multiple 1Gb/s NICS) and a switch with at least 1 10Gbit port and xxx number of 1Gb/s ports. Cat6 cable between the server and the switch and cat5e from the switch to other devices. Cat5e NICs in the other devices.
Thanks
RB
Click to expand...
It's standard industry practice and I did exactly that (but slower) at a school I used to support: 100Mb links to the 35 PCs, 1Gb links to the file and email servers. Before you start work, have you checked the price of 1Gb switches with just one 10Gb slot? I think you're looking at £1500 upwards plus around £300 for the server NIC.
 
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Snapshot said:
It's standard industry practice and I did exactly that (but slower) at a school I used to support: 100Mb links to the 35 PCs, 1Gb links to the file and email servers. Before you start work, have you checked the price of 1Gb switches with just one 10Gb slot? I think you're looking at £1500 upwards plus around £300 for the server NIC.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Just had a browse around. 500+ for the network card and +++ for the switches. A bit too much for home use.

Linux and NIC bonding is the next place I think I will take a quick look at.

Cheers Snapshot.

RB
 
Just to clear some things up in this thread:

CAT5e will do 10Gbps (10GBase-T) upto ~40m.
It is CAT6a which is rated for 100m of 10GBase-T not CAT6 (Which would perform somewhere between CAT5e and CAT6a).

I work for a 10GBase-T adapter manufacturer.
 
HazardO said:
Just to clear some things up in this thread:

CAT5e will do 10Gbps (10GBase-T) upto ~40m.
It is CAT6a which is rated for 100m of 10GBase-T not CAT6 (Which would perform somewhere between CAT5e and CAT6a).

I work for a 10GBase-T adapter manufacturer.
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Interesting HazardO.

What is required to allow 10GBase-T over cat5e ? presumably 10Gbit NICS but are cat6 sockets required or are cat5e sockets ok for under 40m runs ? again, presumably, 10Gbit switches / routers would also be required ?

Many thanks
RB
 
Because if you are not careful, presumption leads to failure.

I like to confirm what I am presuming from people who know more than me rather than find I am going down the wrong path and either wasting money where it did not need to be spent (i.e. cat6 cable when cat5e will do for 10Gbit in my home) or not buy what is required. I beliueve I know the answer but it never hurts to confirm.

Can you confirm that cat5e wall sockets are fine for 10Gbit networking in runs of under 40mtrs ?

RB
 
RimBlock said:
Interesting HazardO.

What is required to allow 10GBase-T over cat5e ? presumably 10Gbit NICS but are cat6 sockets required or are cat5e sockets ok for under 40m runs ? again, presumably, 10Gbit switches / routers would also be required ?

Many thanks
RB
Click to expand...

A wall socket will shorten the length you can successfully use CAT5e over as it will increase cross talk and reflections.
 
Why are you so interested in getting a 10Gb network? No offence intended but you don't seem to know much about the basics of networking so do you realy have devices in your house that can even take advantage of 10Gb/s even if you did have all the correct equipment in place? 10Gb/s NICs and networking devices are realy expensive and designed for a business environment because it is very rare that a home environment will need them.
 
Dist said:
Why are you so interested in getting a 10Gb network? No offence intended but you don't seem to know much about the basics of networking so do you realy have devices in your house that can even take advantage of 10Gb/s even if you did have all the correct equipment in place? 10Gb/s NICs and networking devices are realy expensive and designed for a business environment because it is very rare that a home environment will need them.
Click to expand...

Well indeed, it seems like overkill for the home market at the moment, a decent 10GBase-T adapter is going to set you back at least £500, and the switch..

Added to which, unless you are running a raid array of SSDs on the machine with the 10G adapter, you are never going to get close to utilising the bandwidth of the 10G adapter. A fast SSD will read ~250MBs, so it would be capable of putting 2GBit/sec onto the network at best. Most traditional hard drives wouldn't max out a 1Gbit network.
 
Dist said:
Why are you so interested in getting a 10Gb network? No offence intended but you don't seem to know much about the basics of networking so do you realy have devices in your house that can even take advantage of 10Gb/s even if you did have all the correct equipment in place? 10Gb/s NICs and networking devices are realy expensive and designed for a business environment because it is very rare that a home environment will need them.
Click to expand...

I am currently finalising the purchase of a house and confirming the renovation details. It would seem reasonible to put in all reasonible infrastructure whilst doing the renovation rather than having to recable at a later date. Fibre to the door is currently being rolled out in Singapore and is expected to go live next year. What with that giving around 200Mb/s internet connections (equiv of 50 quid / month), 4 rooms with HD media players running and the fact that we are likely to be staying at this place for 10 or so years means I am planning for the future. Anything I can use extra now is a bonus but with the current costs I would have to agree that wiring up to get 10Gbit at this time would be seriously expensive.

You are incorrect with your assumption that I know very little about the basics of networking. I have been using cat5e including installing cabling for a number of years. What I have little knowledge of is cat6, the standards and implementation because it has never really interested me until now. Cat6 is what I have been asking about, not cat5e.

So, in essence, cat5e cable should hold for 10Gbit in the home when the supporting equipment comes down in price. If I cannot get 10Gbit when that happens then can try a change of wall sockets to cat6 which may improve things.

Thanks for the info everyone. It has saved a chunk of cash.
RB
 
If you are rewiring now I would definitely go for Cat6a (or even Cat7 / 7a) simply because there is little difference in cost and it will keep you sweet for many years to come. Also remember the basic rule of socket placement - you will need twice as many as you think! I helped a mate wire up his home with the switch in the garage and cable (only cat 5e unfortunately) throughout and we ended up having 4 outputs in the lounge and 2 in every other room. Costs little to do now - saves much heartache later! :p
 
If you were just doing a couple of runs round the skirting then I'd say to use 5e, but if you're renovating, then I guess the cables will be "decorated in" so 6a makes more sense, pref with some redundant runs. It's not worth saving £100 on a roll of cable, which will be a great deal of hassle to upgrade later. However, by using a 5e patch panel and sockets you will still make a decent saving but at least they are easy to replace later once prices come down. Also, although 5e cable is capable of 10Gb throughput, crosstalk will reduce the usable length. 6a copes better and starts from a higher distance limit in the first place. I reckon 7/7a is probably not worth the expense until after the next decade.
 
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