Synchronous Optical Network or better known as SONET has been around for about two decades, however the design and development of SONET dates back to the early 1980s. It was introduced as a much needed update to the tried and true T1 technology developed in the early 1960s. Although T1 was ahead of its time in the 1960s, offering users the ability to transmit voice and eventually data and video traffic at speeds of 1,544 Mbps, it was quickly becoming a technology in need of an upgrade. T1 used a basic two-wire copper connection that was limited in both distance and quality of service due to interference. Just like T1, SONET was designed to be a fast and effective means of transporting, multiplexing and switching digital signals for both voice and data to and from user applications. As the world of communications continued to expand and more and more people attempted to transmit voice and data, copper wiring became less and less effective. It was becoming very expensive to install and maintain copper backbones made up of hundreds if not thousands of cables. In addition to cost, copper is also susceptible to electromagnetic interference (EMI), crosstalk, and is limited in the distance data can travel over it. Any amount of electrical spike resulting from a simple lightning storm or other wires being too close to copper lines would cause interference that could be felt at the receiving end. When optical fiber was introduced to replace copper, it solved these problems and you could now send multiple streams of data over a thin glass core that was unaffected by EMI. When fiber first appeared, companies immediately began competing over who had the best and most complex system for transferring data over fiber optics. Although t... middle of the paper... (nd) SONET/SDH and the Generic Connection-Oriented Networks Frame Procedure (GFP): SONET/SDH, ATM, MPLS and Optical Networks Retrieved from Warren, Dave and Hartmann, Denis ( 2003, August 26) Cisco Self-Study: Building Cisco Metro Optical Networks Retrieved from http:// my.safaribooksonline.com/book/networking/cisco/1587050706/configuring-ons-15454-and-ons-15327/ch05lev1sec2Lauer, Carolyn (2003) Atomic Clocks What Time Is It, Really? Retrieved from http://www3.nd.edu/~techrev/Archive/Winter2002/a4.html(nd) Tektronix Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) Tutorial Retrieved from http://www.gta.ufrj.br/seminarios/semin2004_1 /sonet/files/sonet.pdfSynchronous. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/synchronousAsynchronous. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/asynchronous