The era of massive bandwidth continues to unfold, the latest news being that Alcatel-Lucent has introduced a 100-Gigabit Ethernet service routing interface for the edge of the network.
The 7750 Service Router and 7450 Ethernet Service Switch, which will start shipping in mid-2010, are designed to be deployed at the edge, where most of the network intelligence resides. The idea is to be able to expand capacity where determinations are made about how individual services, like high-definition video, need to be handled to ensure an optimal experience for end users. Having that kind of bandwidth closer to the subscriber also reduces the cost-per-bit for IP transport, and ALU says the silicon it’s using in the module also reduces power consumption.
The 100-Gigabit Ethernet standard will be formally completed around the middle of next year, and Alcatel-Lucent isn’t the only vendor making preparations for it. Juniper Networks in June unveiled a 100GigE interface for its T1600 Core Router.
Operators are getting ready, too, eager to support things like managed services, business VPNs, IPTV, peer-to-peer traffic and online video, all simultaneously, cost-effectively, and with a consistent quality of experience.
“TELUS is committed to innovating and delivering new services for residential, business and mobile customers in all our markets focused in Canada,” said Eros Spadotto, executive vice president for technology strategy at Canadian carrier TELUS. “These new services and the traffic they generate require a combination of speed, scale and high availability. Selecting advanced platforms that enable us to evolve our network to support 100 Gigabit Ethernet gives us the assurance that we can continue to introduce the most sophisticated services and meet the needs of our customers now and far into the future.”
For service providers needing greater than 10 Gigabit Ethernet density, but not yet ready to move to 100 Gigabit speeds, Alcatel-Lucent also today introduced a new 10-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet line cards for the 7750 SR and 7450 ESS. Based on the same FP2 silicon, these line cards deliver up to three hundred 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports in a standard telecom rack, including support for a full range of IP/MPLS services, the company said.
