* What impact will the continued evolution of the Ethernet standard have on data storage requirements, assuming capacity continues to follow the same pattern of progress?
Bandwidth will soon far exceed capacity * What network devices will be required for the configuration of a VLAN-enabled Ethernet network?
Gigabit switches * What statement can be made about the rate of progression in data transfer capacity in Ethernet standards?
Speeds mostly have to do with how much one is willing to pay for faster data connection. The deciding factor is how important is the data from which is needed to be collected. Slower standards are just as good as faster ones depending on of course, the capacity in which it is collected and infrastructure· * If an organization decides to implement a medical imagery repository for radiological reviews, requiring 100Mbps connectivity for eight workstations operating at the same time, what is the minimum Ethernet standard to implement? Briefly explain the reasons behind your selection.
Although fast ethernet 100Mbps would be sufficient, 1000Base-T would be better recommended for future growth. Ethernet has been the standard for networking for over 40 years. Future still looks promising with standard speeds of over 1Tbit on the horizon.

Evolution of ethernet: * 1973 While Robert Metcalfe worked for xerox, he was asked to come up with linking hundreds of computer to laser printers. Came up with Ethernet at 3Mbps over shared coaxial cable. * 1979 He left xerox and founded 3 com and with that evolves the standard to 10Mbps * 1986 10Base5 Ethernet is published as a standard by IEEE aka thick ethernet. * 1989 Kaplan created first ethernet switch * 1991 10Bast-T over Cat-3 twisted pair cabling is approved by IEEE * 1994 Fiber 10Base-F is approved by IEEE * 1995 Fast ethernet at 100Mbps becomes the standard * 1998 Gigabit at 1000Bast-T becomes the standard * 2002 10Gigabit ethernet becomes available * 2015 40/1000

With the ever-growing speed of which devices requiring connectivity, standards and hardware are always evolving to keep up with demand. Here is what is current and the plans for the near future of ethernet.

While Cat5e can run Gigabit speeds up to 100M in length and Cat6 can run 10GBase-T up to 100M, Multi-mode fiber can run 100G speeds over 125m making it the highest available medium today.
FCoE is now reducing the amount of cabling to hosts.
Open flow now allows routing and switching protocols to a network mainly for virtual machines.

"For 2015, we expect the bandwidth that needs to be supported to be 10 times what it was in 2010, and in 2020, 100 times what it was in 2010," said John D'Ambrosia, chair of new Higher-Speed Ethernet Consensus group that will lay the groundwork for the actual standard.