A terabit secret no more

Router start-ups detail users.

By Jim Duffy
Network World Fusion, 05/19/99

The high-speed router start-ups, which have been secretive for some time, are now beginning to reveal who's using their gear.

Nexabit Networks announced that Frontier Communications of Rochester, N.Y., is testing Nexabit's carrier-class NX64000 Multi-Terabit Core Switch/Router. Frontier Global Center, a unit of Frontier, is currently evaluating Nexabit's NX64000 at speeds of OC-48, with testing to be conducted at OC-192 in the coming weeks.

Nexabit's NX64000 supports 6.4 terabit/sec per chassis, the company says. In its first release, the NX64000 will support line rate interfaces for OC-3, OC-12 and OC-48, and a 16-channel OC-192 for high-speed connectivity to dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) optical networks, according to Nexabit.

Frontier operates a so-called Optronics Network that connects more than 120 metropolitan areas around the country via fiber optics with DWDM.

Avici Systems announced that GST Telecommunications is deploying Avici's Terabit Switch/Router (TSR) in the West Coast leg of the Next Generation Internet SuperNet project. SuperNet is a network research test bed funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Transparent Optical Network (NTON) Consortium.

In addition to GST, the NTON Consortium includes Nortel Networks, Sprint and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. When complete, the NTON West Coast network will provide the research community, from Seattle to San Diego, with a high-bandwidth network for applications and network technology research.

Avici's TSR supports from 2.5 gigabits to 5.6 terabits of I/O capacity. A fully configured TSR can support up to 8,960 OC-3 ports, 2,240 OC-12 ports, 2,240 OC-48 ports or 560 OC-192 ports, Avici claims. The interfaces support packet over SONET, ATM and the Multi-protocol Label Switching standard, Avici says.