Foundry Networks' new products sport a modular architecture designed to enable devices to be field-upgradable and easily adapted to advances in Ethernet technology.

by Wayne Kawamoto [May 24, 2001]

Foundry Networks announced its family of 10 Gigabit (10 Gbps) Ethernet modules for the enterprise, metropolitan area network (MAN) service provider, and Internet service provider (ISP) markets.

Designed to enhance and extend the power, performance, capacity, and ease of use of the BigIron Layer 3 switch, these new 10 Gigabit Ethernet modules should enable network infrastructure expansion by magnifying the overall speed, efficiency, and potency of Ethernet.

According to Foundry, its state-of-the-art 10 Gigabit Ethernet modules are compatible with the existing Foundry BigIron chassis-based products, designed to enable customers to migrate to the new 10 Gigabit per second (Gbps) Ethernet technology cost-effectively with minimum disruption to their existing networks.

Build from the base
Foundry says that its 10 Gbps Ethernet module architecture extends support of the advanced switching and routing feature sets offered on all of Foundry's Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and Gigabit Ethernet modules.

These functions include Dynamic VLANs based on port, protocol, and subnet; IronClad QoS with the ability to prioritize traffic based on a multitude of customer-definable policies; full and robust IP and multicast support; extensive security through wire-speed Access Control Lists (ACLs) and Extended ACLs; and up to 15 Million packets per second (Mpps) wire-speed performance per 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports while supporting all the existing IEEE 802.3 and 802.3ae standards.

Foundry claims its field-upgradeable and replaceable 10 Gigabit Ethernet optics make its 10 Gigabit Ethernet solution the industry's most flexible. It assures full compliancy with the emerging 10 Gigabit Ethernet physical medium dependent (PMD) optical specifications as defined by the IEEE 802.3ae 10 Gigabit Ethernet Working Group.

Expand and adapt with modules
Foundry claims that its modular architecture enables the product to adapt to innovations, and it named two. The first is the inclusion of a long haul (40 Km) optical transceiver PMD for single mode fiber that can be used with either a LAN or WAN physical (PHY) standard, applicable for building MANs. The second is the WAN PHY option, which enables 10 Gigabit Ethernet to be transported, transparently, across existing OC-192c/SDH SONET infrastructures.

Foundry's field-installable and replaceable 850-nanometer Wide Wave Divisional Multiplexing (WWDM) optical interface is designed to support links up to 65 meters on multimode fiber. This low-cost, short range item would normally be used to provide connectivity between core BigIron Layer 3 switches inside the data center as well as very short riser connections to high performance and high density wiring closets.

Foundry's field-installable and replaceable 1310-nanometer WWDM optical interface should support links up to 300 meters and 10 Km on multimode and single mode fiber, respectively. Multimode fiber connections would normally be used in enterprise networks to provide 10 Gigabit Ethernet riser connections to high-performance work groups within a building (intra-building), or to provide interconnectivity between multiple ultra-high capacity core BigIron Layer 3 switches inside a data center.

Service providers should be able to use 10 Gigabit Ethernet links to provide higher levels of aggregation bandwidth services between distribution switches and NetIron Internet edge or core routers.

Foundry's field-installable and replaceable 1310-nanometer Serial optical interface will also support single mode fiber links up to 10 Km. Network administrators would use these interfaces to provide connectivity between campus buildings

Foundry's field-installable and replaceable 1550-nanometer Serial optical interface will support single mode fiber links up to 40 Km and serve as the foundation for connectivity between data centers built for next generation Metro and Application Service Provider (ASP) infrastructures. Foundry's 10 Gigabit Ethernet may enable businesses to create ultra high-speed links at a very low cost between colocated, carrier-class NetIron Internet routers and BigIron Layer 3 switches.

"With these 10 Gigabit Ethernet products, Foundry advances its position as the performance leader with next generation Ethernet technology, offering a complete line of interface options that span from 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps Ethernet," said Bobby Johnson, President and CEO of Foundry Networks.

"Combined with our Internet routers, Layer 3 Gigabit backbone switches, Layer 2/3 wiring closet switches, and Layer 4 through 7 Web switches, we have a very powerful and compelling solution for the construction of next generation, high-performance networking infrastructures. Add to that the ease by which you can install and interchange these modules and optical interfaces, without requiring a chassis or forklift upgrade, and Foundry provides a comprehensive technology advantage unmatched by the competition today."

Pricing and availability
Foundry's B10Gx, single port 10 Gbps Ethernet base module will be available starting in mid-July, with an U.S. list price of USD $44,995.

Optical inserts will be available starting in mid-July, with the following U.S. list prices:

850-nanometer Serial optical insert is $4,495

1310-nanometer WWDM optical insert is $9,995

1310-nanometer Serial optical insert is $14,995

1550-nanometer Serial optical insert is $39,995

—End