UK demos 100Mbps network

Residents in Bournemouth on the UKs south coast will be among the first people to have the option of a super fast fibre-optic network offering up to 100Mbps uploads and downloads in 2010, with networks in other parts of the country planned too, states Bit-tech.net.

Broadband speeds haven't really improved much in the last five years for most of the UK. Those lucky enough to live close to an exchange may see close to 20Mb on ADSL, while Virgin has recently rolled out its expensive 50Mb service, although this still only has a comparatively slow 1.5Mbps upload speed.

Fibrecity, part of the i3 group, recently showcased the service as well as its interactive portal in Bournemouth, where the first of the UKs connections have been made available.

Alcatel-Lucent researchers say they have figured out how to multiply the speed of the fastest undersea cables by a factor of 10, an achievement that someday could send the contents of 400 DVDs hurtling from Paris to Chicago in one second, writes PC World

Alcatel says researchers at a Bell Labs facility in Villarceaux, France, became the first to achieve the speed of "100 petabits per second.kilometre."

The measurement takes into account both speed and the ability to maintain it over distance, by multiplying the network's speed by its distance in kilometres.

Citrix Systems has released the NetScaler VPX virtual appliance and unveiled the Citrix ready Open Networking Programme to support it, says Computerworld.

The new programme establishes a partner ecosystem to support Citrix NetScaler VPX. With the introduction of the Open Networking Programme, Citrix is making it easier for ISVs, enterprises and cloud infrastructure providers to create virtual networking solutions they can integrate with partner solutions, said the vendor.

According to the company, the Citrix Ready Open Networking Programme establishes a partner ecosystem to support the deployment of virtualised NetScaler services into any environment.