Thunderbolt 2 Networking enables 10 Gbps Ethernet connection, supports Macs and PCs
Intel's Thunderbolt 2 connectivity standard is getting an update here at NAB 2014 with the addition of Thunderbolt Networking. Put simply, this new feature will let you pair computers with a Thunderbolt cable …
Context & Ripple Effects
Thunderbolt launched in early 2011 as an Apple-anchored high-speed port — GigaOM's early explainer framed it around daisy-chained displays and storage — before crossing to PCs in April 2012. The standard's problem since has been justifying itself against cheaper USB and native Ethernet on the Windows side.
Announcing Thunderbolt Networking at NAB 2014 targets that gap directly and at its most receptive audience: video professionals who move huge media files between workstations. Pairing two computers with a single Thunderbolt cable now yields a direct 10 Gbps Ethernet-class link, and the pickup across Technology@Intel, AppleInsider, MacRumors, SlashGear and Electronista shows Intel pushing hard on the cross-platform Mac-and-PC message rather than treating this as another Apple-only feature.
First-order effects
- Video editors and post-production houses gain a switchless way to link two machines at 10 Gbps using cables and ports they may already own, cutting dedicated 10 Gigabit NICs and switches out of small-suite budgets.
- Mac and PC owners can now treat Thunderbolt as a peer-to-peer network interface across platforms, removing the 'Apple-only' objection that has limited the standard's second life on Windows machines.
Second-order effects
- Peripheral and storage vendors showing at NAB have an incentive to ship Thunderbolt 2 ports as standard, since each port doubles as both an expansion bus and a 10 Gbps network drop.
- Ethernet-equipment makers selling entry-level 10GbE adapters face a zero-infrastructure alternative at the low end, pressuring them to differentiate on switching, cabling distance, and multi-node topologies rather than raw point-to-point speed.
Third-order effects
- If PC OEMs adopt Thunderbolt 2 Networking broadly, the port evolves from a premium display-and-storage connector into a general-purpose I/O fabric, consolidating networking, storage, and video onto one cable type — a structural shift that would put conventional NIC vendors and USB-adjacent ecosystems on the defensive.
- The pattern points toward bandwidth standards competing on software-defined roles rather than connectors alone: whoever defines what a port does (networking, target disk mode, display) captures the value that used to belong to separate product categories.
The trend: Thunderbolt is widening from a display-and-storage bus into a peer-to-peer networking fabric as Intel uses NAB's video market to pull the standard into the PC mainstream.