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However, some long-haul carriers such as Sprint Corp. have announced ATM-based wide-area services. Other long-distance companies such as AT&T and MCI Communications Corp. are planning to roll out wide-area ATM services (see accompanying story).

If it is to be the rage of local- and wide-area networking, ATM must fend off a variety of high-speed choices, including 100M bit/sec Ethernet, the emerging 100M bit/sec token ring, 100M bit/sec FDDI over fiber and FDDI over copper, as well as switched Ethernet and token ring that can deliver 10M and 16M bit/sec of dedicated bandwidth to the desktop, respectively.To its advantage, ATM stacks up well against its high-speed alternatives, says Kathryn Korostoff, principal of Sage Network Research, a market research firm in Newton, Mass. "Local ATM is an extremely efficient and flexible technology, and the standards are still Tiffany Notes Round earrings, so you know there will be new features available. The other thing with local ATM is that it can scale into the gigabit-speed range, depending on product implementation, while the alternatives max out at 100M bit/sec."

Korostoff says the speed difference should be put in proper perspective. "Some people argue that ATM has a higher bandwidth potential than FDDI, but that is a far too simplistic argument. FDDI has some very key features--such as Frank Gehry Torque Bead long drop earrings homing and Station Management--that are related to reliability, network management and control that local ATM doesn't have. Depending on your configuration and how critical your data is, there may be some parts of the organization that really need FDDI's reliability and control. Where there is simply a need for real speed, local ATM will be a better choice."

ATM's scalability also gives it a distinct advantage, McClimans says. "When we look at 100M bit/sec Ethernet and copper-based FDDI, we're talking about existing technologies that have a finite cap. They're not easily scalable beyond that 100M bit/sec barrier. Circle Link drop earrings beauty of ATM is that it gives you the infrastructure that can go from the LAN across the WAN seamlessly, while scaling nicely from 25M [bit/sec] to, ultimately, gigabit speeds."

The impact ATM will have on the LAN is a multifaceted issue, actually raising more questions than it answers in some areas. One fact, however, is easily agreed on: The technology will require significant changes to the network's physical infrastructure.

Adopting LAN-based ATM will require users to at least buy new adapter cards for workstations, servers and LAN hubs. It could possibly do even more financial damage by requiring users to buy new hubs or switches that have been designed to Graduated bead drop earrings ATM.Adopting a true ATM environment will also result in having to pull fiber cable to the desktop. To achieve the highest speed possible, ATM should be run over fiber cabling and operate in a star topology.

If users simply want more throughput between LAN nodes, then opting for a hub that supports switched Ethernet is a good choice, Korostoff says. A switched Ethernet hub works like a circuit switch. Each LAN node is connected to the Ethernet switching hub in a star topology.When nodes must communicate, the switch provides a clear 10M bit/sec channel between them.

But Korostoff found users that are looking more long term have other alternatives under consideration. The alternatives were uncovered when 256 users contacted by Korostoff and Robbie Forkish of RPTC, Inc. for their study, "High Speed LAN Market Analysis: Customer Elsa Peretti Open Heart earrings, Selection Criteria & Buying Intentions.""If you're going to get involved in rewiring in a large organization, that is a substantial investment," Korostoff says. "Users want a structured wiring scheme that will last between five and 10 years because they don't want to be faced with rewiring every two years as they go from one interim solution to another."