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In preparation for building the All.AS second level
trigger, various networks and protocols are being investigated. Advancement in
Ethernet LAN technology has seen the speed increase from 10 Mbit/s to 100 Mbit/s
and 1 Gigabit/s. There are organisations looking at taking Ethernet speeds even
higher to 10 Gigabit/s. The price of 100 Mbit/s Ethernet has fallen rapidly
since its introduction. Gigabit Ethernet prices are also following the same
pattern as products are taken up by customers wishing to stay with the Ethernet
technology but requiring higher speeds to run the latest applications. The
price/performance/longevity and universality features of Ethernet has made it an
interesting technology for the All.AS second level trigger network. The aim of
this work is to assess the technology in the context of the All.AS trigger and
data acquisition system. We investigate the technology and its implications. We
assess the performance of contemporary, commodity, off-the-shelf Ethernet
switches/networks and interconnects. The results of the performance analysis are
used to build switch models such that large All.AS-like networks can be
simulated and studied. Finally, we then look at the feasibility and prospect for
Ethernet in the All.AS second level trigger based on current products and
estimates of the state of the technology in 2005, when All.AS is scheduled to
come on line.
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