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Intel Expands Thunderbolt Networking with PC Support for Ultra-Fast Connections

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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,453
30,657



Intel today updated its Thunderbolt connectivity with Thunderbolt Networking, allowing a PC and a Mac to be paired for the first time using a Thunderbolt cable, enabling fast file sharing with a throughput of up to 10 Gbps.

Drivers in Mavericks have allowed two Macs to connect via Thunderbolt since the operating system was released in 2013, but now a Mac can also be paired with a PC or two PCs can be paired with one another.

intelthunderbolt.jpg
Thunderbolt Networking, emulating an Ethernet connection environment, provides 10GbE throughput between two computers. Already released on the Mac with OS X Mavericks*, a PC driver will soon be available to connect two PCs together or a PC to a Mac, adding a new level of workflow flexibility for media professionals. By offering simple and fast file sharing, Thunderbolt Networking enables backup or upgrade across two computers like never before, using existing cables and connectors.
Click to expand...
Connecting two computers via Thunderbolt is similar to connecting them via standard Ethernet, but the file transfer speeds are far faster with the former. Intel is currently demoing Thunderbolt Networking at NAB 2014 and expects to release the PC driver soon.

Article Link: Intel Expands Thunderbolt Networking with PC Support for Ultra-Fast Connections
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/04/07/intel-expands-thunderbolt-networking/
R

rkuo

macrumors 65816
Sep 25, 2010
1,203
807
This will be great for all my PC's with Thunderbolt ports. </sarcasm>
 
U

UKgaryb

macrumors regular
Dec 13, 2013
186
105
Manchester, UK
This is great, the more visibility thunderbolt gets in the PC space, the more devices will be made, the more mass produced the cables etc will be, the lower the prices will be.

I'm just waiting for a cheap thunderbolt hard drive caddy to become available. £1k+ on a Promise is far too much.
 
Dozer_Zaibatsu

Dozer_Zaibatsu

macrumors 6502
Oct 10, 2006
327
352
North America
Wow. I literally have my iMac plugged in right now to my NUC via Thunderbolt. I guess I am of the small minority who has actually been waiting for this to happen.

So this is what it feels like to belong to the "1%" of something.
 
guzhogi

guzhogi

macrumors 68040
Aug 31, 2003
3,733
1,824
Wherever my feet take me…
Would be interesting to see a Thunderbolt switch. I work in a school district and every year, all of the student & staff computers get reimaged. Reimaging would be so much faster over Thunderbolt. And for those who are interested, my district uses Deploystudio
 
M

MikhailT

macrumors 601
Nov 12, 2007
4,582
1,325
rkuo said:
This will be great for all my PC's with Thunderbolt ports. </sarcasm>
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goobot said:
How many Pcs have thunderbolt though?
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If we're talking about desktop PCs, it should be very easy to add an adapter card for the TB ports. The problem is that not many companies are willing to do this because the market for it is so small.

Asus has a TB2 adapter for their motherboards here on Amazon for 70$ shipped.

Intel need to step up here to release the proper TB2 cards.

Considering the upcoming USB 3.1 standard, Intel cannot afford to be greedy about this. Apple should've made TB a open licensing program instead of giving it all to Intel.
 
A

anthony11

macrumors 6502
May 18, 2007
332
8
Seattle, WA
MikhailT said:
If we're talking about desktop PCs, it should be very easy to add an adapter card for the TB ports.
Click to expand...
My sense is that the "add a card" strategy isn't what it once was -- compared to 15 years ago, systems mostly come with onboard interfaces for the majority of uses, and those deploying I think are less inclined to hassle with adding cards. And the laptop::desktop ratio has changed dramatically, with most laptops not providing anything like a PCMCIA/PC-Card/ExpressCard expansion slot, and many desktops even offering very limited expansion potential. But I could be wrong.[/quote]

So this is IP over Thunderbolt? My immediate thought was to wonder if it would be any viable than IP over FireWire, ie. if it would work, or if like the latter (and ExpressCard) it would mostly just lead to kernel panics.
 
J

jeremysteele

Cancelled
Jul 13, 2011
485
394
Too bad 10GB ethernet chipsets are still so expensive (hundreds).

A $5 copper Cat7 cable is so much cheaper than a $40 thunderbolt.

Oh well.
---

As far as outright replacing ethernet goes - it wouldn't happen for a long time. The topology choices are far too limiting for major networks. Still - it's nice to have extra connection options. Many network admins still carry around serial cables for those "just in case" scenarios when they need them. Options are nice ;)
 
S

subsonix

macrumors 68040
Feb 2, 2008
3,551
79
nemesiswar said:
So will Thunderbolt replace ethernet cables then? ...sounds expensive.
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Probably not, but if you compare to 10GbE stuff Thunderbolt is dirt cheap. It's great to get 10Gb/s networking out of the box. Normally it's unavailable on laptops, and the PCIe card required will set you back $500 or so. Per computer (not including cables).
 
jimthing

jimthing

macrumors 68000
Apr 6, 2011
1,978
1,135
UKgaryb said:
This is great, the more visibility thunderbolt gets in the PC space, the more devices will be made, the more mass produced the cables etc will be, the lower the prices will be.

I'm just waiting for a cheap thunderbolt hard drive caddy to become available. £1k+ on a Promise is far too much.
Click to expand...

Ah yes, but the Pegasus units are more than simple storage. I hear you on price, but you must realise that the high-level RAID controllers in them demand a certain price markup accordingly:
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=18965701
 
B

bzero

macrumors member
Apr 1, 2014
42
0
Yes! Put that stuff on the mass "Wintel" market, get everyone in the U.S. and China to make Thunderbolt stuff, and everything Thunderbolt will be way cheaper. Just like how USB wifi cards are cheaper than other types only because they're more popular for some reason. You can (no joke) buy them from Chinese eBay sellers for $2 with free shipping.

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aloshka said:
lol. Also don't forget the PC will require a reboot for device detection
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Running Linux too?

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cwfeldmann said:
so wait, will I be able to use my iMac screen for my gaming rig now??? :eek:
Click to expand...

You can already do that as long as you have DisplayPort output (or DVI/HDMI that you can adapt to DisplayPort). Thunderbolt ports double as regular old DisplayPort.
 
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