Foundry Networks has announced shipment of what it claims is the industry's first eight-port Gigabit Ethernet interface module based on the Small Form-Factor Pluggable Multi Source Agreement (SFP MSA) specification.
This Optical "Mini-GBIC" transceiver with duplex fiber connectors will ship June 1.
These transceivers are compliant with the Gigabit Ethernet standards and occupy less than half the board space of the existing GBIC products, Foundry says. Foundry's new Mini GBIC modules fit into all of the company's existing BigIron chassis, including the four-slot BigIron 4000, eight-slot BigIron 8000 and recently announced 15-slot BigIron 15000 Layer 3 switches.
The modules enable network administrators to build chassis densities of 32, 64, and 120 Gigabit Ethernet ports, respectively. The largest switch, the BigIron 15000, can forward up to 178 million packet/sec, Foundry claims.
The Mini GBIC modules also fit into Foundry's line of Internet backbone routers, including the four-slot NetIron400, eight-slot NetIron800, and recently announced 15-slot NetIron1500.
The Mini-GBIC module costs $16,995. Pricing for the SFP MSA transceiver optics starts at $495 for 1000Base-SX and $995 for 1000Base-LX. Foundry also plans to soon announce pricing and availability of SFP MSA Long Haul optics.
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