Extreme Networks point new BlackDiamond 20804 Etherent Transport switch at video apps

OCTOBER 13, 2009 -- Extreme Networks Inc. has unveiled the BlackDiamond 20804 Ethernet Transport switch, the latest addition to the BlackDiamond 20800 Series of Carrier Ethernet switches. It is engineered to enable carriers worldwide to handle the demands of residential video, as well as business Ethernet and mobile backhaul services.

The BlackDiamond 20804 Ethernet Transport switch is designed to increase network longevity by enabling carriers to gracefully expand video and other services on their network, provide the proactive service management tools carriers need to exceed subscriber expectations, and help lower the carrier’s cost of ownership with a next-generation platform that is easy to operate.

For Tier 2 and Tier 3 carriers migrating from SONET/SDH and Gigabit Ethernet rings to 10-Gigabit Ethernet rings, the BlackDiamond 20804 provides a 120-Gbps-per-slot line-rate switching capacity in a four-slot chassis, supporting up to 32 line-rate 10 GbE ports per chassis today, with bandwidth for future 100 GbE IO modules. It also is designed for future switch fabric upgrades to enable 480 Gbps of switching capacity per slot.

Video service delivery is accelerated with multicast quality of service hardware resources engineered to help to ensure video multicast traffic gets to the subscriber no matter how busy the network. Business Ethernet service delivery is also accelerated with MEF certified E-LINE and E-LAN support and pre-standard E-NNI support.

Support for Provider Backbone Bridges enables carriers to scale their aggregation networks using reliable, industry-standard Ethernet protocols, according to Extreme. The company further asserts that the BlackDiamond 20804’s bandwidth capacity, software functionality, and hardware-assisted service acceleration combine to increase carrier network longevity by enabling carriers to gracefully expand video and other services on their network without forklift upgrades as service requirements continue to grow.

“Video is the ‘killer’ app -- in every sense of the word -- both for driving increasing traffic demands and as a source of service provider revenue growth,” said Michael Howard, co-founder and principal analyst, Infonetics Research. “Our recent residential services report shows that by 2011, the service provider revenue for video services will surpass voice services, but will be marked by high programming costs and tight margins. Specifically designed for the move from SONET/SDH to next-generation Ethernet transport, Extreme's BlackDiamond 20804 -- with its multicast quality of service, 10GbE ports, and service management tools -- is especially suited to small and medium-size operators providing video services.”

The BlackDiamond 20800 Series of Ethernet Transport switches includes the new BlackDiamond 20804 and the eight-slot BlackDiamond 20808. To simplify network operations, reduce technician training time, and reduce cost of network spares, the BlackDiamond 20800 Series use the same power supplies, IO modules, and management modules. This operational simplicity allows carriers to lower total cost of ownership by starting small and re-using initial investments as the network grows, Extreme says.

The BlackDiamond 20800 Series includes support for Ethernet Access Protection Switching (EAPS RFC 3619), an Ethernet ring resiliency protocol. EAPS is important to carriers that have grown accustomed to 50-ms failover protection on fiber access and aggregation ring topologies. In addition to EAPS, support for advanced Ethernet OAMP protocols like Continuity Fault Management and ITU Y.1731 combine with an easy to use GUI-based service management system to provide carriers the service management tools they need to delight their subscribers, Extreme asserts.

The BlackDiamond 20804 Ethernet transport switch will be available in the first quarter of 2010.

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