Foundry Networks Inc. is moving beyond the core and Internet edge with a new line of routers.
The MLX routers deliver an unparalleled level of scalability, performance, features and pricing for metro multiservice MPLS/VPLS edge routing, as well as enterprise core and enterprise high-performance cluster computing applications, said Foundry President and CEO Bobby Johnson.
The NetIron MLX Series will be generally available in February, with U.S. list pricing starting at $30,500 for a redundant NetIron MLX-4 base system with redundant management modules, switch fabrics, power supplies and cooling systems.
The NetIron MLX Series offers advanced Layer 2 and IPv4/IPv6/MPLS-capable 10GE at $5,000 per port. That’s a fraction of the per-port cost of competing Cisco Systems Inc. and Juniper Networks Inc. products, Johnson said.
The new MLX includes the NetIron MLX-4, a 4RU, 4-slot system with up to 16 10GE ports; the NetIron MLX-8, a 7RU, 8-slot system with up to 32 10GE ports; and the NetIron MLX-16, a 14RU, 16-slot system with up to 64 10GE ports.
For high-performance metro applications, the NetIron MLX Series enables advanced Layer 2 Metro Ethernet services based on IEEE 802.1Q, Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP), Foundry’s proprietary Metro Ring Protocol (MRP), and Virtual Switch Redundancy Protocol (VSRP). It also features highly scalable metro services based on the upcoming IEEE 802.1ad (provider bridges), and IEEE 802.1ah (provider backbone bridges).
A suite of MPLS-TE, MPLS VPNs, and Fast Reroute (FRR) capabilities complements the advanced Layer 2 feature set, allowing operators to combine the simplicity and cost efficiency of Layer 2 with the granular control and high-availability of MPLS. And over time, Johnson said, Foundry expects to add high-speed packet over SONET interfaces and higher speed links to the MLX.
The MLX family is based on the same technology as Foundry’s previously announced IMR and XMR routing products, said Johnson. He said when it was introduced, the IMR was the “the fastest router in the world” because it approached 1 billion packets-per-second processing power, and that Foundry followed up on that a year later by announcing a new product called the XMR that doubled that performance. Foundry announced today the XMR is now generally available.
The XMR routers are U.S. list priced starting below $60,000 for a redundant NetIron XMR 16000 base system including redundant management modules, switch fabrics, power supplies and cooling systems. The NetIron XMR Series also offers IPv4/IPv6/MPLS multiservice capable 10GE at $7,500 per port.
The NetIron XMR Series, built for large-scale service provider deployments, includes IPv4/IPv6 routing, MPLS and MPLS VPN capabilities.
Both the XMR and the MLX are based on Foundry’s fifth-generation Network Processor based architecture that supports MPLS Virtual Leased Line (VLL), Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS), and BGP/MPLS VPN (RFC 2547bis) services. The Foundry architecture enables customers to mix these services on the same platform while offering intelligent mapping of user frames to each service instance. In addition, the architecture offers operators capacity of up to 1.54 terabits per second in a single shelf, or up to 4.62tbps user data capacity in a standard 7-foot rack.
Cisco Systems Inc. www.cisco.com
Foundry Networks www.foundrynetworks.com
Juniper Networks Inc. www.junipernetworks.com
