A new, highly scalable carrier Ethernet switch from Extreme Networks Inc. called the BlackDiamond 12K can support both business and residential applications – or what the vendor calls “multidimensional Ethernet.”
This Layer 2 product supports tens of thousands of subscribers per I/O Blade, can control up to eight QoS levels per subscriber, offers unique controls for business versus residential subscribers and includes hardware-based controllers for bandwidth management.
An Ethernet Cross Connect feature allows service providers to connect subscribers easily to a growing number of content networks.
To enable better network scaling, Extreme has implemented standards-based MAC in MAC technology to greatly increase the number of Ethernet VPNs per network. The company replaced the VLAN tag used in traditional Ethernet with a larger VLAN field to allow for a larger number of service instance (a service instance could be a VPN, for example), said Peter Lunk, Extreme’s senior product manager for service provider solutions.
The BlackDiamond 12K, now in trials, will be generally available in March. Pricing starts at $60,000.
Extreme Networks www.extremenetworks.com
