Brocade Communications Systems is offering service providers a new switching router that it says brings 1 Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet capabilities along with enhanced space and power efficiency.
Brocade’s NetIron CER 2000 Series compact switch, announced Nov. 17, offers high performance in a 1U (1.75-inch) form factor, with 24G or 48G Ethernet ports with two 10G Ethernet uplinks.
The goal is to give service providers greater capabilities in providing such services as VPNs and IP voice and video, while at the same time reducing their overall costs, Nadeem Zahid, manager of service provider marketing for Brocade, said in an interview.
To read about Fujitsu’s XG line of compact Ethernet switches, click here.
The NetIron CER 2000 Series switch uses 33 percent less space and 66 percent less power than rival Cisco Systems’ ME 6524 switch, Zahid said.
“It also triples the performance at half the cost,” he said.
The Brocade switch lets service providers offer wire-speed Carrier Ethernet services-including E-LINE, E-LAN and E-TREE services-via its multicast and QOS (quality of service) capabilities, according to Brocade officials.
The switch offers hot-swappable, redundant and load-sharing power supplies, a redundant and replaceable cooling system, and front-to-back airflow.
It can be used as a Carrier Ethernet/Metro edge router, an MPLS Provider Edge router or a high-capacity border router in such areas as small data centers and branch offices with Ethernet connectivity.
The switch will come in six models-including fiber and copper-and will be available in the first quarter of 2010, starting at $12,495.