...

Oh, well.

You do not need 2 or whatever Gbps backplanes to build terabit per second networks.

Correct. I've got a terabit network on my desk right now. Its kind of simple and doesn't scale well... only two ports. But what can you expect from strands of fiber... :)

--bill

No, gigabit backplanes are not necessary for _routing IP_ at tbps. It can be done without fancy silicon. I talked that thru with many people and they agree that there is at least one way to build a tbps router in a basement. Software is a different matter, though. --vadim