* Extreme Networks’ Summit 400-24
Extreme Networks this week introduced a new set of Layer 3 switches with a slant toward the emerging applications of VoIP and wireless LANs.
The Summit 400-24 family of stackable switches contains a set of technologies geared toward WLAN support and IP telephony.
Extreme is still positioning its BlackDiamond chassis-based switches for network cores; the new Summit 400 switches would stack with each other and then uplink directly to a BlackDiamond in a two-tier architecture, Extreme says.
The Summit 400 switches use Extreme’s UniStack, a stacking technology that offers “a single point of management, increased availability and flexibility traditionally found with a chassis switch,” according to Extreme. Up to eight switches can be stacked and then managed as if they were one device. Throughput per switch is 40G bit/sec and if a switch fails the others can take over.
The switches can be stacked with Summit 400-48 switch to get 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks into the mix.
Link Layer Discovery Protocol is included in the switches to automatically discover IP telephones, wireless access points and other Ethernet switches.
There are two switches in the Summit 400-24 “family.” The 400-24p offers Power over Ethernet, a key feature for IP phones that would require electrical power over the same line as the Ethernet signal. The 400-24t is a more traditional edge switch aimed at delivering Gigabit Ethernet to the desktop.
Extreme is bringing a WLAN technology it calls AccessAdapt to the new switches. This is a technology that allows Extreme’s Altitude wireless access points to get configuration and policy information from the switch.
Both of the new switches will ship in April, starting at $4,500.
For more information, see my colleague Phil Hochmuth’s story at:
