San Jose, Calif. - Cisco Systems' new port adapter for its high-end routers is intended to allow users to transmit IP traffic at ATM speeds without implementing ATM.
Cisco recently announced the Packet-over-SONET (POS) port adapter for its Cisco 7500 and 7200 series routers. Designed for large enterprises and service providers, the POS port adapter gives users more flexible connectivity options than previous-generation POS modules, Cisco says.
It also brings POS connectivity to the 7200 series routers for the first time, the company says.
POS is a high-speed packet network technology that provides speeds comparable to ATM without the packet-to-cell segmentation and reassembly, and concurrent cost and potential performance overhead. POS is widely regarded as Cisco's best defense in maintaining router viability in applications in which ATM switches could replace routers.
Cisco currently offers a POS interface processor for its 7500 router that sports a single, channelized 155M bit/sec OC-3 port and uses a single slot.
The new port adapter features a concatenated - or clear channel - OC-3 and fits into one of multiple sleeves on a Cisco Versatile Interface Processor (VIP) 2-50 module.
The VIP is so named because while it uses a single slot in a router, it can house a variety of two-port adapters, such as POS, Fast Ethernet, ATM, DS-3, Ethernet and token ring. So one slot on a 7500 with a VIP can house twice as many ports per slot, as well as a mixture of different media, than non-VIP interface processors.
"It is definitely a very efficient way of transmitting IP traffic with minimal overhead. However, it consumes the entire fiber pair," says Brad Rhoades, principal engineer of US WEST's Interprise Networking Services. "We will also be looking at ATM interfaces as a preferred means of sharing backbone bandwidth and ensuring true quality of service and class of service."
Cisco claims its POS port adapter supports the company's IP class-of-service capabilities, such as Committed Access Rate, Random Early Detection and Weighted Random Early Detection, so users can offer differentiated services.
The POS port adapter is a single-port 155M bit/sec OC-3c card for the 7500 VIP2-50 or the 7200 router with the NPE-150 and NPE-200 processors. It is available in three interface types: multimode, single-mode intermediate-reach and single-mode long-reach fiber.
The multimode version costs $6,000, the single-mode intermediate-reach costs $8,000 and the single-mode long-reach costs $10,000. All versions are available now.
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Packet over SONET
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