Dell'Oro: Fibre Channel to meet same problems as 10-Gigabit Ethernet

August 16, 2006 Redwood City, CA -- The majority of Fibre Channel switch and host bus sdapter sales will remain at 4-Gbit/sec speeds beyond 2010, reveals a new report from Dell'Oro Group. Sales of 1-Gbit/sec Fibre Channel dominated the market for approximately five years, 2 Gbits/sec dominated for four years, and the report predicts 4 Gbits/sec will dominate beyond five years.

"In general, manufacturers invent and build higher speed solutions that offer customers a price advantage on a per gigabit of bandwidth," explains Tam Dell'Oro, founder and principal SAN analyst. "But we don't see 8-Gbit/sec Fibre Channel being able to offer a price advantage over 4-Gbit/sec speeds in the next few years. In addition, we expect 8-Gbit/sec Fibre Channel will hit the same 15-meter distance limitation and laser jitter problems that Ethernet has at 10-Gbit/sec speeds," he adds. "Until 8-Gbit/sec Fibre Channel or 10-Gigabit Ethernet can offer a price advantage over 4 Gbits/sec, the latter will be the logical choice," he contends.

The Dell'Oro Group's "5-Year Forecast Report" provides an overview of the SAN Fibre Channel industry with tables covering manufacturers' revenue, average selling prices, and port shipments (by speed) for Fibre Channel switches and Fibre Channel HBAs. For more information, visit www.DellOro.com.