Enterprise Switching Platforms
"Data sells, but Voice pays the bills." That darn sentence is on so many
peoples lips these days. While many are quick to brush it off, there is one
very important point to the matter-both are essential parts to any
communications system being implemented today, tomorrow, or next year. Are
you looking just to extend your corporate Ethernet, or are you getting
prepared for a telecommunications revolution over IP?
Enterprises cannot ignore the complex issues surrounding the
implementation of a new communications platform. Included in this roundup is
a smattering of enterprise switching platforms that will get you started
down the road towards the Next Generation and the services and cost-reducing
features it promises. Please use this roundup as the starting point to a
holistic voice and data solution for your company.
Mike von Wahlde
Enterprise Switching Platforms
EdgeLinkT5R
Telco Systems
63 Nahatan St.
Norwood, MA 02062
781-551-0300
www.telco.com
The EdgeLinkT5R Gigabit Ethernet Layer 3 Routing switch is the
newest member of the T Series enterprise product family. It supports up to
64 Fast Ethernet ports and is equipped with BATM's exclusive Symmetric
Bandwidth Control and the ability to support a variety of media interfaces,
including 10/100 Mbps and Gigabit Ethernet on copper or fiber, and 10 Mbps
symmetrical VDSL.
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Catalyst 6000 Family
Cisco Systems
170 West Tasman Dr.
San Jose, CA 95143-1706
408-526-4000
The Catalyst 6000 family (Catalyst 6500 and Catalyst 6000 series) is
designed to address the increased requirements for gigabit scalability,
high-availability, and multilayer switching in backbone/distribution and
server-aggregation environments. Now offered with advanced IP telephony
features, the Catalyst 6000 family offers unparalleled multiservice
capabilities to support Cisco AVVID (Architecture for Voice, Video, and
Integrated Data) convergence applications.
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NEAX 2400 IPX
NEC America Inc., Corporate Networks Group
6555 N. State Hwy. 161
Irving, TX 75039-2402
214-262-2000
NEC's NEAX 2400 Internet Protocol eXchange (IPX) is designed for
businesses that are seeking to deploy IP telephony without compromising the
functionality offered by existing PBX technology. The NEAX 2400 IPX, which
supports IP on both the trunk and station side, uses traditional switching
methodologies to provide the features offered by previous generations of
NEAX 2400 products. It offers customers a simple, clear, and affordable
migration path to IP telephony.
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Enterprise Gigabit
Ethernet Switch
Cygnet Technologies
750 State Highway 121 Bypass, Ste. 150
Lewisville, TX 75067
972-242-0372
Cygnet Technologies' eight-port Enterprise Gigabit Ethernet
switch is designed to work with existing copper wire infrastructure to
enable high-speed Internet access to end-users. Service providers and
commercial enterprises can implement the Enterprise switch in a number of
applications, including as an aggregation point because it offers both Layer
2 and Layer 3 functionality. It provides full auto-negotiation for 10
megabits, 100 megabits, or one gigabit.
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BayStack 70
Nortel Networks
Dept 1019, One Brunswick Sqr. , Atrium, Ste. 100
Saint John, NB E2L 4V1 CANADA
800-466-7835
Ideal for small networks needing dedicated bandwidth, BayStack 70
Switches provide affordable, reliable, and fast connectivity with support
for eight, 16, or 24 10/100 auto sensing ports. Perfect for cost-conscious
customers who don't need complicated management features, but who demand
high-speed performance and scalability to support future needs, the BayStack
70 Switches boost the performance of desktops by providing dedicated
bandwidth directly to users and high utilization servers.
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LightReef
Zuma Networks
8403 Fallbrook Ave.
West Hills, CA 91304
818-593-5333
LightReef is an open-architecture, modular hardware platform that
couples layer 2/3/4 wire-speed switch-routing functionality with wire-speed
differentiated IP network services. Stonesoft's StoneGate Firewall and VPN
software is a fully scalable enterprise-level security solution that will be
ported into the modular Linux application processors within the LightReef
platform using Zuma's Zumix Application Programming Interface (API). The
resulting LightReef/Stonegate security platform effectively provides all the
benefits of scalable clustering technology, yet eliminates the continuous
addition of server nodes, configuration, and setup.
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Call Control Server
NetCentrex
2115 O'Nel Dr., Ste. 101
San Jose, CA 95131
408-521-7400
Designed as a scalable platform to meet the requirements of large
and small networks, test networks, and development labs, the Call Control
Server utilizes Microsoft Windows NT or Linux operating systems. The
Application Server leverages the Windows NT operating system and commonly
known scripting languages to enable quick development and deployment of new
applications. The Call Control Server is available utilizing the Linux
operating system on a CPU board in the CompactPCI platform or in a 1U
chassis with either the Linux operating system or Microsoft NT operating
system. The Application Server utilizes the Windows NT operating system on a
1U chassis or on a CPU module in the CompactPCI chassis. Each CompactPCI
chassis supports both CCS CPU modules (with Linux OS) and Application Server
CPU modules (with Windows NT) in a single chassis or multiple chassis
chained together appearing as a single system.
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LeXSS
CopperCom
2860 De La Cruz Blvd.
Santa Clara, CA 95050
408-987-8500
The CopperCom LeXSS is comprised of three platforms: 1) a
switching and media conversion platform; 2) a softswitch platform; 3) and a
provisioning and management platform. The switching platform provides line
side interfaces to subscribers via circuit and packet access networks. The
softswitch controls the switch platform using the Megaco/H.248 standard. It
provides call handling, line and trunk side features, as well as a rich
feature creation environment. The LeXSS appears to the network as a single
system, including the switch, softswitch, and remote IADs, simplifying the
provisioning and management of the system. Interoperability with existing
OSSs is supported through northbound interfaces, including Corba, SNMP, and
XML.
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MD110
Ericsson Enterprise
1555 Adams Dr.
Menlo Park, CA 94025
650-324-6100
The MD110 transforms the traditional PBX into a communication
server by way of an integrated Ethernet/IP interface that connects the
system directly to the local- or wide-area network. The MD110 provides
enterprises with the ability to offer advanced mobility functions to all
users, resulting in higher service levels and lower operational costs. It
retains its successful modular and decentralized architecture, and can
easily be adapted to meet the changing needs of organizations.
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FastIron II
LAN Switches
Foundry Networks, Inc.
2100 Gold St.
P.O. Box 649100
San Jose, CA 95164-9100
888-TURBOLAN
The FastIron II product family, including the four-slot FastIron
II chassis, the 8-slot FastIron II Plus chassis, and the 15-slot FastIron
III chassis, delivers a new level of high-performance capabilities for
enterprise and service provider networks. For the high-end data center
computing needs, the FastIron II family offers the FastIron-II GC and the
FastIron-II Plus GC to ensure high-speed Gigabit Ethernet Copper connections
for high-end server clustering. Based on Foundry's unique IronCore ASIC
architecture, FastIron II delivers hardware-based distributed switching and
low-price, high performance, and high-density 10/100/1000 Mbps connectivity.
Like the BigIron product family, the FastIron-II product family is
10-Gigabit ready
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Vpacket 6100
Series
Vpacket Communications, Inc.
1390 McCarthy Blvd.
Milpitas, CA 95035
408-571-7900
The Vpacket 6100 Series is the industry's first truly business
class voice/data router designed for high volume deployments in converged
voice/data over IP network applications. The 6100 Series works in concert
with the Vpacket Network Management System and third-party softswitches and
media gateways to provide a complete solution for deploying converged
voice/data services and IP Centrex features to small- and mid-size
businesses.
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IA 1000
Riverstone Networks
5200 Great America Pkwy.
Santa Clara, CA 95054
408-878-6500
Designed for high-performance hosting environments, Riverstone
Networks' IA 1100 and IA 1200 Web switches provide line rate device load
balancing, traffic load balancing, and traffic policing. The IA family
ensures that visitors to an Internet site can complete their transactions
seamlessly, whether downloading information, buying products, or upgrading
account status. The Riverstone Networks IA family of Web switches offers
service providers a unique combination of performance, control, security,
and reliability.
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Shoreline3
System
Shoreline Communications, Inc.
960 Stewart Dr.
Sunnyvale, CA 94085
408-331-3300
The Shoreline3 system is a completely distributed, modular voice
communication solution with no single point of failure that is layered on
top of your IP network. At the heart of the system is the standards-based
DIVA software switching architecture, which uniquely distributes call
control intelligence to voice switches connected anywhere on the IP network.
In addition, the DIVA architecture distributes voice applications --
including voice mail and automated attendant-to servers across locations,
rather than centralizing applications at the network core.
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OfficeConnect
Dual Speed Hub 8
3Com
5400 Bayfront Plz.
Santa Clara, CA 95052
408-326-5000
This reliable plug-and-play hub offers a smooth way to migrate to
high performance yet maintain flexibility by connecting both Ethernet and
Fast Ethernet PCs or network devices. Eight autosensing 10/100 Mbps ports
match the speed of an attached device to optimize performance. A built-in
switch seamlessly connects users.
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WiseWan NAPS/Broadband
NetReality Inc.
2350 Mission College Blvd., Ste. 900
Santa Clara, CA 95054
408-988-8100
NetReality, Inc., a leader in network application priority
switching, announced the newest member of its WiseWan network application
priority switch (NAPS) product line: WiseWan NAPS/Broadband. The tool
enables service providers to ensure QoS for enterprises eager to take
advantage of IP managed services via broadband access. In addition to the
QoS capabilities, WiseWan NAPS/Broadband enables service providers to craft
and stand behind Service Level Agreements.
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ipVerse
ControlSwitch
ipVerse, Inc.
926 Rock Ave.
San Jose, CA 95131
408-952-5400
The ipVerse ControlSwitch is a multi-protocol call control
system, that supports SS7, MGCP, H.323, IPDC, SIP, and ISDN-PRI signaling
systems, allowing transparent service exchange within or between service
provider networks. In a world of rapidly evolving hardware standards, the
ControlSwitch eliminates forklift upgrades and creates freedom of choice;
users can grow their networks with equipment from various best-of-breed
vendors while supporting their investments in existing infrastructure. Its
simple Web-based tools and XML scripts enable service providers and
third-party developers to quickly create, deploy, and customize new voice
and data services, including applications for powerful personal call
management.
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MediaXpress
Processor
empowerTel Networks
475 Sycamore Dr.
Milpitas, CA 95035
408-519.7100
The MediaXpress Processor achieves low-latency media conversion
using several service-optimized hardware accelerated engines, embedded
processors, and a high-speed lookup engine. MediaFlow software provides a
robust API that is designed to take advantage of the MediaXpress Processor's
features including four embedded processors, TDM switching, IP, and UDP
packet filtering and lookup, fast packet classification, and jitter buffer
management to provide a high density of media streams required for demanding
IP and Media switching applications. This programmable system-on-a-chip can
be adapted for different applications using empowerTel's MediaFlow software
and customer developed applications.
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Clarent
OpenAccess Softswitch
Clarent Corporation
700 Chesapeake Dr.
Redwood City, CA 94063
650-306-7511
A combination of the Clarent Call Manager and the Clarent Command
Center, Clarent's softswitch provides a highly scalable, standards-based
service and application platform with the essential elements of a
traditional Class 5 telecommunications switch. The softswitch also includes
a comprehensive set of tools to enable the development of next-generation
service applications by third parties. The Clarent softswitch authenticates
subscribers, initiates call set-up and tear down, establishes call rates for
billing, and provides call routing -- all essential functionalities for any
voice network. This softswitch is ready for deployment of live service
today.
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OmniPCX 4400
Alcatel
26801 W. Agoura Rd.
Calabasas, CA 91301
800-995-2612
This IP-based enterprise voice networking system features
scalability for 50 to 50,000 users, and comes with the company's Reflexes
telephone
handsets. Features of the system include quality
of service (QoS) management, unified messaging capability, one-number
mobility, and integrated voice and data network management. Based on a
client/server UNIX architecture, the system offers an open architecture for
easy integration with
application technologies and other networking
infrastructures. The system is part of the OmniSolutions for Enterprise
initiative, which also features the OmniSwitch, OmniStack, and OmniCore data
networking families.
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Summit48
Extreme Networks
3585 Monroe St.
Santa Clara, CA 95051-1450
408-579-2800
With 48 switched 10/100 Mbps auto-negotiating Ethernet ports and
two full-duplex GBIC-based 1000BASE-SX, LX or LX-70 Gigabit Ethernet ports,
Summit48 has a 17.5 Gbps non-blocking switch fabric and a forwarding rate of
10.1 million packets per second. Summit48 comes with wire-speed Layer 2 and
wire-speed basic Layer 3 switching using static routing or RIP V1/V2 routing
protocols. For easy scalability, the Summit48 upgrades to full Layer 3
switching with a simple upgrade key. The Layer 3 switching includes support
for protocols such as OSPF, DVMRP, PIM, and IPX routing of multiple
encapsulation types.
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IQ8000
Quarry Technologies, Inc.
8 New England Executive Park
Burlington, MA 01803
781-505-8300
A carrier-class, hardware-based router at its heart, the iQ8000
switch delivers high-touch optical speed processing of IP traffic, in the a
high-performance, scalable, manageable, and fault-tolerant platform. The
iQ8000 IP Service Edge Switch, together with the iQSMS Service Management
Suite, allow network service providers to minimize the deployment of CPE by
offering advanced IP services on-demand from centralized locations. This
concept, known as "Virtual CPE," presents tremendous advantages in increased
service flexibility, improved time-to-market, and reduced support costs.
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