Gigabit Interface Converter GBIC is a standard for transceivers, commonly used with GigabitEthernet and fibre channel. By offering a standard, hot swappable electricalinterface, one gigabit ethernet port can support a wide range of physicalmedia, from copper to long-wave single-mode optical fiber, at lengths ofhundreds of kilometers. The appeal of the GBIC standard in networkingequipment, as opposed to fixed physical interface configurations, is itsflexibility. Where multiple different optical technologies are in use, anadministrator can purchase GBICs as needed, not in advance, and they can be thespecific type needed for each link. This lowers the cost of the base system andgives the administrator far more flexibility. On the other hand if it is knownthat a switch will mostly have ...