Ethernet switch vendor Extreme Networks Inc. this week aims to expand further its appeal to service providers by delivering new platforms that offer larger, more scalable and resilient networks.
The company sells a line of Ethernet switches under the name BlackDiamond. Varun Nagarag, vice president of product management at Extreme, says the company’s high-performance switching gear helped it win some of the early Ethernet wide area networking business from Ethernet service pioneers like Yipes Networks. “Nonblocking on every port was our early claim to fame,” he says, adding that NTT of Japan is also now among Extreme’s carrier customers.
Other Extreme innovations include VMAN tagging, which allows one VLAN tag to be stacked on top of another, and Ethernet automatic protection switching (EAPS), which delivers SONET-like 50msec failover, says Nagarag.
Extreme continues to work with service providers to evolve their networks and scale, says Nagarag, adding service providers also need tools to allow their networks to withstand outside attacks.
“Layer 3 MPLS is complex technology, so you don’t want to complicate the service provider network with big routers,” continues Nagarag. “So we’re promoting Layer 2 MPLS, called VPLS. We’ll be announcing VPLS availability in July on the BlackDiamond 6800, and we’ve already won some customers. We think it goes from VLANs to VMANs to VPLS – that’s the evolution. It’s all about separating user traffic and letting you scale. That technology will also be available in the 10gig BlackDiamond in the future.”
Craig Easley, Extreme’s director of marketing for metro Ethernet, says Layer 3 MPLS VPNs rely on expensive routers from Cisco Systems Inc. and Juniper Networks. That requires a $250,000 to $300,000 investment, he says, while a similar application using the Extreme technology would only require a $50,000 investment.
Also at SUPERCOMM, Extreme announced EAPS version 2, which maintains sub-50msec failover even as rings, the number of subscribers and distances get bigger.
