Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Development
    • Development

    Foundry Beefs Up Switches

    By
    Paula Musich
    -
    April 28, 2003
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Foundry Networks Inc. on Monday launched its next-generation terabit switching architecture and the first two products that implement the high-performance hardware architecture.

      The foundation of the architecture is 10Gbps Ethernet technology, which will be targeted at both enterprises as well as service providers for LAN, MAN and WAN applications.

      “The next generation switching products will be 40Gbps ready, which we believe will be the next performance plateau,” said Ken Cheng, general manager of Foundrys enterprise business unit in San Jose, Calif. Cheng pointed out that the IEEE has already begun to form committees to work on developing a standard for 40Gb Ethernet.

      Foundry achieved several advancements in its next-generation switching platform to take it beyond the markets current high-end switching platforms. Its application specific integrated circuit chipset, dubbed Terathon, contains 80 million transistors on a single chip. The architecture also uses 3.125 Gigahertz serialization to build very fast serial connections for the switching fabric. Foundry also employed fully programmable gate arrays to bring programmability to the hardware architecture and exploited advancements in optical interface technologies to allow for higher density chassis, according to Cheng.

      Although Foundry has upped the ante among high-performance switching providers, it has not changed the competitive landscape with its new architecture, believes Zeus Kerravala, vice president of infrastructure at The Yankee Group Inc. in Boston.

      “Foundry is still the high-end alternative to Cisco. Theyve solidified themselves as the viable alternative at the high end,” he said.

      Page 2

      With the new architecture, Foundry is targeting grid or cluster computing installations, server farms that employ Gigabit Ethernet server interfaces, universities with large campuses and as a means to interconnect islands of storage area networks as well as ISP metro networks and WAN applications.

      The first of several planned products based on the architecture include the new BigIron MG8 backbone Layer 2/3 switch, which supports the full 1.28 terabits per second switching capacity and provides 32 ports per system.

      The BigIron MG8, targeted at enterprises, offers a number of features for high availability, including hot-swappable power suppliers, hot-pluggable interface modules, redundant management modules with fast failover and IEEE 802.3ad link aggregation.

      It also offers 802.1Q rapid spanning tree Layer 2 switching, can maintain 200 peers and 2 million routes based on Border Gateway Protocol 4.0, supports a variety of multicast protocols and includes several security mechanisms.

      “They havent ventured too far into the router space, or done a lot of different things with security. Their focus has allowed them to make a very good switch. Theyre like the Juniper of switching. If you wanted to build a best of breed network, youd use Foundry for switching and Juniper for routing,” said Kerravala.

      For Internet Service Providers, Foundry announced the NetIron 40G metro router, which also supports 32 ports per system and 1.28 terabits per second capacity. It will differ from the BigIron MG8 in its management and interface modules. Its management modules can scale to 4 million BGP routes, and its interface modules can scale to 512,000 IP routes.

      The switches are due out later this summer.

      Paula Musich

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×