Gappa's comments are supported by industry data. On the one hand, the FCIA (Fibre Channel Industry Association) reports that the Fibre Channel market experienced a return to modest growth in 2018. In comparison, the ODVA (Open DeviceNet Vendor Association) reports strong growth in Ethernet switch connectivity. In 2018, orders for 100Gb Ethernet switch ports increased 154.6% year-over-year to 3.5 million, while 25Gb ports experienced even higher growth rates with orders up 251.0% to 2.6 million. Orders for 40Gb ports also increased, growing 12.6% year-over-year to 1.3 million.

Gappa commented after Rohde & Schwarz announced that it will be unveiling a series of extensions and enhancements to its R&S SpycerNode media storage system at IBC 2019. Launched at IBC last year, the R&S SpycerNode is the company's first media storage system built entirely around high-speed Ethernet connectivity.

“The Fibre Channel standard was completed in 1994 and has served the media industry well, but essentially there are only about nine manufacturers developing Fibre Channel technology. Compare this to high-speed Ethernet, where there are more than 500 companies, such as Juniper, Arista, and Cisco, introducing new products every year, and the future is clear,” Gappa comments.

The question is whether end users of storage systems are aware of this market trend and its implications for their businesses. Broadcasters, production companies, and post-production companies are reluctant to run two networks within their facilities due to infrastructure costs and support requirements.

"Recent developments in high-speed Ethernet technology make it comparable to Fibre Channel performance, but it is much more flexible and allows for easier and more cost-effective creation and operation of network-attached storage (NAS) systems," continued Oliver Gappa.

At IBC 2019, Rohde & Schwarz will expand its R&S SpycerNode media storage system with the introduction of a new compact 2U model. This small-capacity system represents an entry point into this storage system, which leverages the latest advancements in high-power computing based on high-speed Ethernet connectivity. In addition, Rohde & Schwarz will showcase several new JBOD capacity expansion units, providing affordable storage capacity expansion for its other SpycerNode models.
Another new initiative is the launch of R&S SpycerPAM, a production asset management system that enables workgroup editing and seamless integration of various editing and mastering platforms, including Adobe Premiere, Avid Media Composer, and Apple Final Cut Pro.