wiredInUSA - April 2014
15
INDEXIntel will shortly begin commercial
production of an 800 gigabit per second
optical network cable. The new cable is
based on technology developed in its
Silicon Photonics facility.
The new optical cables are designed
to allow servers to communicate more
efficiently than is possible using traditional
copper cables. Optical fiber having
become the norm for data transfer over
long distances, many ISPs are offering
direct fiber-to-the-home services even
though the use of finer optic cables in
data centers has lagged behind.
“The biggest hurdle to higher optical
connections has been cost,” said Victor
Krutul, marketing director of Intel’s Silicon
Photonics Solutions group. He added that
the new technology has been engineered
with consideration to cost, but prices and
likely shipping dates are not yet available.
Facebook already uses Intel spec server
racks and other optical-ready equipment.
The company could become Intel’s first
customer for the ultra high-speed data
cables.
Cables offer 800Gps