As we learned when the console was initially announced, the Wii U's "proprietary high-density optical discs" hold up to 25GB of data -- equivalent with that of Sony's single-layer Blu-ray format on the PlayStation 3, and much larger than the Xbox 360's dual-layer DVD format.

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Switches with built-in routing, also known as Layer 3 switches, are expected to catch on as router replacements once the boxes are equipped with WAN interfaces and support for multiple protocols -- two features backbone routers have long had.

CNN: Networking trends emerge for '99

Existing 3-D printers, also called rapid prototyping machines, build structures layer by layer.

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Each node has 2-8 Xeon 5650 processors providing 6-48 coes and up to 768 GB of RAM, 1.3 TB of Fusion-io ioDrive PCIe flash cards and a mid-layer of up to 1.2 TB of Intel SSD storage.

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Information about each layer is transmitted from the computer to a laser beam, which melts the PCL into a 3-D structure.

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"Once vendors support more protocols, acceptance of Layer 3 switching should increase dramatically, " said Eric Pylko, global infrastructure coordinator at Eastman-Kodak Corp. in Rochester, N.

CNN: Networking trends emerge for '99