IEEE Std 802.3 enables several different Ethernet speeds for Local Area Network (LAN) applications, and 25 Gbps is the latest addition to the standard. The capability to interconnect devices at 25 Gbps Ethernet rates becomes especially relevant for next-generation data center networks where:
- To keep up with increasing CPU and storage bandwidth, rack or blade servers need to support aggregate throughputs faster than 10 Gbps (single lane) or 20 Gbps (dual lane) from their Network Interface Card (NIC) or LAN-on-Motherboard (LOM) networking ports;
- Given the increased bandwidth to endpoints, uplinks from Top-of-Rack (TOR) or Blade switches need to transition from 40 Gbps (four lanes) to 100 Gbps (four lanes) while ideally maintaining the same per-lane breakout capability;
- (Due to the expected adoption of 100GBASE-CR4/KR4/SR4/LR4, SerDes and cabling technologies are already being developed and deployed to support 25 Gbps per physical lane, twisted pair, or fiber.