Cisco, Sun plan Fast Ethernet interim step to gigabit speeds.(Cisco Systems Fast EtherChannel technology'; Sun Quad Fast Ethernet adapter) (Product Information)

Fast Ethernet trunking technology from Cisco and Sun Microsystems will let users boost switch-to-server connections higher than 100Mbps before Gigabit Ethernet becomes widely available.

A four-port server adapter announced last week by Sun will take up only one slot in a Sun server and will let users attach four full-duplex 10/100Mbps connections to a Cisco Catalyst 5000 switch or 7500 router. Cisco's Fast EtherChannel allows the four-port adapter to consolidate the four channels onto one full-duplex 800Mbps link.

The trunked Fast Ethernet links will also provide redundancy and allow load balancing, officials said.

Several other server and adapter companies …