Switching and routing product provider Foundry Networks Inc. (Quote) announced today new modules for its BigIron Layer 3 switches.
Based on the new JetCore ASIC chipset, the new BigIron modules offer superior port density, availability, serviceability, and scalability at an industry-leading price/performance, company officials said. The JetCore ASICs were first introduced with the FastIron 4802 fixed configuration Layer 3 switch in June, 2001.
The BigIron Layer 3 modular systems offer a Global Ethernet Metro solution that combines the simplicity of Ethernet, reliability of SONET, and the efficiency of optical systems with the power of IP to deliver cost-effective broadband connectivity to businesses and consumers, the company also said.
Among other features, the new BigIron Modules provide port density of up to 232 Gigabit Ethernet ports, 14 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports, or 672 10/100 ports in a single modular system; enable on-demand bandwidth provisioning with wire-speed, fine-grain bandwidth control on all 10/100 and Gigabit interfaces based on port, port-plus-priority, or Layer 4 Access Control Lists; and support for Jumbo frames to scale storage and server farm throughputs, enabling high-performance remote backup and disaster recovery services.
The BigIron 4000, 8000 and 15000 systems are 4-slot, 8-slot and 15-slot modular systems respectively that offer integrated redundant hot-swappable auto-sensing AC or DC power supplies, redundant management modules and hot-swappable interface modules. Each of the systems is built with a non-blocking architecture to provide aggregate switching capacity of 128 Gbps, 256 Gbps and 480 Gbps respectively.
Foundry said its BigIron 4000, 8000 and 15000 systems and all new JetCore modules will be generally available in March 2002. The 10-Gigabit Ethernet interface modules are available immediately.
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