Reviews of computing technology: Fiber distributed data interface

Abstract

Fiber Distributed Data Interface, more commonly known as FDDI, is the name of the standard that describes a new local area network (LAN) technology for the 90`s. This technology is based on fiber optics communications and, at a data transmission rate of 100 million bits per second (mbps), provides a full order of magnitude improvement over previous LAN standards such as Ethernet and Token Ring. FDDI as a standard has been accepted by all major computer manufacturers and is a national standard as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). FDDI will become part of the US Government Open Systems Interconnection Profile (GOSIP) under Version 3 GOSIP and will become an international standard promoted by the International Standards Organization (ISO). It is important to note that there are no competing standards for high performance LAN`s so that FDDI acceptance is nearly universal. This technology report describes FDDI as a technology, looks at the applications of this technology, examine the current economics of using it, and describe activities and plans by the Information Resource Management (IRM) department to implement this technology at the Savannah River Site.