Some established vendors bow out

Also: Enterprise optical boxes see the light Interactive scorecard and NetResults How we did it Sidebar: Starting in the rack Related links

DWDM is relatively new to the enterprise space, so we expected some raised eyebrows when we asked vendors for DWDM evaluation equipment. But we had no idea how resistant some vendors would be to our request.

Ciena has been providing DWDM shelves to the carriers for some time now. At first, Ciena marketing touted their MultiWave Metro solution as the best fit for our enterprise network - until it came time to ante up gear.

Then they abruptly declined to participate in our test, claiming that they had no product suitable for enterprise networks.

Marconi initially expressed interest in our testin, but at the last moment declined to participate. The reason given was that Marconi was having trouble manufacturing their enterprise DWDM equipment and preferred to sell what they had rather than provide it to us for testing.

The reactions we received from these vendors gave us pause when it comes to purchasing enterprise DWDM equipment. Apparently, not every DWDM vendor who talks the talk is able to walk the walk.

Fritz, who is the principal network engineer for West Virginia University's Network Services department, is responsible for advanced network technology development for the WVU campus networks and has directed the university's Advanced Network Applications Lab since 1988. Fritz holds a master's degree in Electrical Engineering from West Virginia University and is the author of Remote LAN Access: a guide for networkers and the rest of us and Sensible ISDN Data Applications.

The West Virginia University Network Services test team consisting of Matthew Glotfelty, Jeff Davis and Bird Vilseck.

Enterprise optical boxes see the light
Nortel's OPTera Metro 5200 tops the list of DWDM gear tested.

Starting in the rack

Interactive scorecard and NetResults

How we did it