Saying it is “laying the foundation for the next-generation Internet,” Cisco (CSCO) today unveiled its new carrier routing system. Called the CRS-3, the new core IP routing technology leapfrogs existing routing systems to provide capacity of up to 322 terabits per second (Tbps) – enough to download the entire collection at the U.S. Library of Congress in one second.
“The next-gen Net will change our lives in ways we are just beginning to dream about,” said Cisco CEO John Chambers in a presentation to press and analysts. Chambers predicted that, powered by video collaboration over ultra high-speed broadband connections, large companies will grow at 5-10 percent a year in the coming decade, and national economies at 3-4 percent annually.
Cisco built up its customary amount of hype around the new announcement, promising to “revolutionize the Internet” and fueling speculation about exactly what today’s release would cover. While a new routing infrastructure is not exactly revolutionary, the CRS-3 is certainly an impressive leap forward in terms of bandwidth and quality of service assurance for Cisco’s service provider partners.
“It truly is a tipping point,” in terms of the power of the Internet, Chambers asserted. The conjunction of video growth to desktops and homes, explosive mobile broadband growth, cloud computing, and the spread of version 6 of the Internet protocol is fueling bandwidth demand that could not have been predicted only a few years ago, and Cisco sees its role, following the acquisition of Starent Networks, as pushing intelligence throughout the network, enabling carriers to “supercharge the worldwide Internet,” as Pankaj Patel, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco’s service provider group, put it.
The first CRS-1 was released about five years ago, and Cisco did not even put out a version two, preferring to call the new system, which it said can deliver around three times the capacity of CRS-1, version three. Cisco has “very little interest in stand-alone devices,” Chambers said, and is focused on “accelerating the delivery of compelling new experiences for consumers, new revenue opportunities for service providers, and new ways to collaborate in the workplace,” according to the company statement unveiling the new routing system. The new CRS is ready for “true” 100G Ethernet, unlike other systems which achieve that capacity by multiplexing 40G Ethernet systems.
“We need the 100G technology to be put into production over the next few years,” said Keith Cambron, president and CEO of AT&T Labs, who participated in the Cisco presentation. “We’re already seeing rings where 40G is not enough.”
Due to be available in the third quarter of this year, the CRS-3 provides about 12 times the capacity of competitors’ systems, according to the company.
