Extreme Networks is looking to spur corporate interest in Gigabit to the desktop with new high-density modules announced this week for its Ethernet switch.
Extreme Networks is looking to spur corporate interest in Gigabit to the desktop with new high-density modules announced this week for its Ethernet switch.
The new blades could help companies with bandwidth-intensive applications push more Gigabit Ethernet to desktops. Alpine chassis loaded with the new modules also could be used to connect clusters of Gigabit-enabled servers.
The two blades include a 16-port mini-Gigabit Interface Converter module (the MG-16X3), and copper-based 10/100/1000M bit/sec module (GM-16T3). Both products are based on Extreme’s Triumph ASIC architecture, announced last month, which provides greater port densities and new features over the company’s old technology, Extreme says.
Modules based on the Triumph architecture were announced last month for Extreme’s BlackDiamond core switch.
Among several new features in the the Triumph architecture is the ability to run diagnostics on Category 5/6 cable connections attached to each port on a Triumph-based blade, Extreme says. The hard-coded diagnostic tools can detect the length of an attached network cable and locate faults in the fiber or copper cable. Improperly terminated cables or misconfigured connections also can be detected on each port. The Triumph-based modules also support rate shaping, letting bandwidth on individual ports be “throttled” from 1M to 1G bit/sec, based on network rules and management criteria.
Originally introduced as its platform for Ethernet metropolitan-area networks, Alpine also is being used by customers as a chassis for wiring closet switches, typically connecting to an Extreme BlackDiamond box in the core.
The box competes with Cisco’s Catalyst 4000 and 6500 series and Foundry Networks’ midsize FastIron Edge switch chassis.
Four Alpine chassis will be deployed this month in wiring closets at the Arizona State Department of Land Management. The switches will include GM-16T3 blades to support bandwidth-intensive applications, such as geographical information system, detailed mapping and satellite imaging tools. The switches will provide Gigabit Ethernet connections to 160 workers who use Gigabit Ethernet-enabled Dell workstations to create detailed images and records for the 9.3 million acres of land the department controls, says William Reed, CTO for the department.
“You don’t want to put Gigabit Ethernet on desktops if you’re only doing word processing,” Reed says. “You really have to come up with the justification for it. You have to be doing something that fills that pipe and have PCs capable of handling that kind of data. And we’ve got that.”
The GM-16X3 costs $6000 and the GM-16T3 is priced at $4,500.
