Nortel Networks yesterday announced what it described as "next generation capabilities" on its Ethernet over Fiber service, which it says will position service providers to offer Optical Ethernet switched solutions to more users.
These new capabilities, Nortel said, will also position service providers to lower service deployment costs by 35-50 percent compared to traditional Frame Relay and ATM solutions. This means they will be able to offer voice over IP, videoconferencing, collaborative computing and other high-value services more efficiently using a high-performance Optical Ethernet infrastructure.
Two new products will be added to the Nortel Networks Optical Ethernet portfolio and will be available in the first quarter of 2004 -- Nortel Networks Metro Ethernet Services Unit 1800 and Metro Ethernet Services Module 8668 for Nortel Networks Passport 8600 Routing Switch. This is designed to give service providers a scalable solution capable of supporting hundreds of thousands of end customers.
These new products will enable a ring-based, switched Ethernet solution with 50 milli-second resiliency, which Nortel says is the generally accepted industry benchmark for carrier class services. This Ethernet ring solution is built to offer a scalable way to aggregate customer traffic with cost-effective Ethernet switches. Additionally, Metro Ethernet Services Module 8668 will work with stacked VLAN (virtual local area network) technology to ensure multi-vendor interoperability.
"As service providers continue to make progress in delivering Ethernet-based services, they are asking how vendor solutions can help them drive revenues and offer the security, scalability, and reliability levels they require." said Mark Bieberich, senior analyst, Yankee Group. "The solution that Nortel Networks is announcing addresses these issues while providing the flexibility to fit into a variety of network scenarios."
The new products are designed to integrate with Nortel Networks Optical Ethernet portfolio and are managed by Nortel Networks Preside Network Management Solution for automated provisioning, troubleshooting support, and performance management. The products will support a tool for service assurance called VPN Continuity, enabling providers to ensure service uptime and verify service level agreements. Nortel Networks management solution for Optical Ethernet switching solutions scales to match service growth and is capable of supporting tens of thousands of network elements while maintaining the same level of operational efficiency.
Nortel Networks will also enhance Nortel Networks OPTera Metro 1000 series of Ethernet Service Modules with the capability to fit into ring-based topologies, as well as features like per class-of-service rate enforcement, automatic node discovery, and dynamic service provisioning. These enhancements are designed to strengthen the value proposition of OPTera Metro 1000 as a customer premise device capable of supporting multiple services while simplifying ongoing network management.
"Nortel Networks Optical Ethernet solutions provide the ideal transport infrastructure to support next generation multimedia applications as well as today's existing LAN applications, delivering the performance levels required for traffic that demands near-real-time response like voice over IP, videoconferencing, collaborative computing, and more," said Marco Pagani, president, Optical Ethernet and Storage Solutions, Nortel Networks.
Networks provides Ethernet services via Ethernet over fiber, Ethernet over SONET/SDH and Ethernet over WDM.
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