Craig C.,
You're asking a technical guy to explain something in plain english? You must be desparate. <g> If you have specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them if I can.
The article was very interesting, especially the references to Fibre Channel on the LAN. As Fibre Channel storage devices become more common, there is little doubt that the WAN will also be affected by the bandwidth crunch. I think ATM will ultimately be the transport of choice there, but certainly WDM will be used to augment existing fiber.
I used to work for a company that installed optical fiber, and I can tell you that we never wanted to do any more new construction than we had to. If WDMs had been available at a reasonable price then, I guarantee that we would have used them on our existing fiber runs.
This discussion reminds me that I never got back to you on my WDM pick. The company is Precision Optics (POCI). They are just starting to develop WDM products, and are hoping to ship some by the end of the year. I consider them high-risk at this point, but if WDM is as successful as you and I think it will be, they could be a player. If they fail in their WDM development effort, they may be in trouble. As always, do your own research. I think there is a POCI thread here on SI.
If I get any spare capital, I might join you on the Lightpath thread.
Craig |
