New powered LAN switches could help ease IP phone, wireless LAN base station deployment.
Foundry Networks and 3Com this week will debut products that deliver power over Ethernet to devices such as wireless LAN access points and IP phones – the latter addressing a critical concern among IP telephony skeptics.
Foundry Networks and 3Com this week will debut products that deliver power over Ethernet to devices such as wireless LAN access points and IP phones – the latter addressing a critical concern among IP telephony skeptics.
Technology Update: 802.3af powers up LAN, lowers cost
With their announcements at the CeBit conference in Germany, the companies will be offering their first PoE products. Such products are designed to make it easier to deploy IP phones, wireless LAN access points, IP security cameras and other devices by delivering network connectivity and AC power over a single network cable.
In addition to its PoE gear, Foundry will announce a stackable Gigabit switch for small and midsize LAN cores. 3Com also will have new 803.11a gear on tap.
Foundry will debut two switches for powering IP devices over LAN cabling as well as new fixed-configured boxes for building modular Gigabit backbones.
Foundry will announce two FastIron Edge PoE wiring closet switches that could be used to deliver power and LAN connectivity to devices compliant with the 802.3af (PoE) standard.
The FastIron Edge Switch 2402 PoE includes 24 powered 10/100M bit/sec ports, two unpowered 10/100/1000M bit/sec copper ports and mini-Gigabit Interface Converter slots for fiber uplinks. The FastIron Edge 4802 is a 48-port version of the switch, with twice as many powered LAN ports as the 2402, and the same number of copper and fiber uplink ports and slots. The 24- and 48-port switches will cost $4,500 and $7,500, respectively, and come as Layer 2 devices, but can be upgraded to Layer 3 switching for about $2,000 extra.
3Com also will enter the PoE market with its SuperStack 3 Switch 4400 PWR, a 24-port 10/100M bit/sec box that can deliver power to 802.3af devices. The box will be able to power the company’s NBX IP phones and 802.11 wireless LAN access points. In the past, these devices could be powered with third-party PoE equipment from vendors such as PowerDsine.When coupled with an uninterruptible power supply, PoE-enabled switches can be used to ensure that IP phones operate during a power outage. Whereas this “dial tone in the dark” capability has been standard on office phone systems for years, the lack of inline power to IP phones has been seen as a hindrance to widespread IP telephony adoption.
3Com’s and Foundry’s PoE gear will compete with switches from Avaya, Cisco and Nortel, which offer PoE LAN switches along with IP phones and IP PBX products.
Foundry also will release a new router aimed at carriers. The FastIron Edge Switch 12GCF is a fixed-configuration Layer 3 switch that offers 12 fiber-based and copper-based Gigabit Ethernet ports. Up to 12 of the ports can be used simultaneously, allowing users to turn on a mix of fiber and copper links. The switch will cost $8,000 for a base Layer 3 configuration, which includes hardware-based routing. A $2,000 upgrade will allow for full Layer 3 capabilities with routing protocols that can provide redundancy and faster performance, including Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP), Routing Information Protocol (RIP) and Open Shortest Path First (OSPF).
Aimed at carrier and hosting provider data centers, Foundry’s NetIron 4802 is a 48-port full Layer 3 routing switch, with support for protocols such as VRRP, RIP and OSPF, as well as hardware-based Layer 3 packet forwarding. The box will cost $15,000 with a full Layer 2 and Layer 3 feature set.
Pricing and availability have not been set for 3Com’s new PoE offering. Foundry’s PoE gear is scheduled to be available in June, while the FastIron Edge Switch 12GCF and NetIron 4802 router are slated to ship next month.
