Army deploying Gigabit Ethernet
Network will provide Fort Carson users with a sixfold increase in bandwidth compared with the Asynchronous Transfer Mode networks
The Army in June will install a Gigabit Ethernet network at Fort Carson, Colo., marking the first such use of the technology under a major Army networking program.
The network will be installed as part of the Army's Common User Installation Transport Network (CUITN) program. It will provide Fort Carson users with a sixfold increase in bandwidth compared with the Asynchronous Transfer Mode networks installed to date. Gigabit Ethernet offers 1,000 megabits/sec of bandwidth, compared with 622 megabits/sec or 155 megabits/sec for ATM.
"It is not bleeding edge, but it's definitely leading edge," said Army Lt. Col Edward McCoy, the product manager for the Army Communications-Electronics Command's Defense Data Networks program, in a prepared statement. "The goal is to make 10 megabit to the desktop affordable."
The Gigabit Ethernet network will position Fort Carson users for streaming video, distance learning and unified messaging, in which users could get e-mail and voice mail messages together over a single network.
The Army's CUITN program was designed to provide an intelligent information infrastructure that supports high-speed data transfer at Army posts, camps and stations worldwide.
NEXT STORY: Site serves minorities' health