JULY 3, 2007 -- Allied Telesis (search for Allied Telesis) has announced its 2972 series of fiber Gigabit Network Interface Cards (NICs) that use new PCI Express (PCIe) bus for improved performance.

PCIe was designed to deliver exceptional levels of performance and more bandwidth compared to the previous PCI-x bus. As a result, Allied Telesis says it has developed the new 2972 range of NICs to fully leverage the advantages of the new bus. An additional boost to efficiency and speed is provided by the cards' 78Kb memory, which allows tasks to be offloaded by the host CPU.

The 2972 family comprises three different interface cards with either one or two fiber or copper ports. The interface cards are ideally suited to server-based applications and client computers that require very high throughput, say company representatives. The AT-2972SX is a single-port fiber Gigabit PCIe card with fiber LC connector; the AT-2972SX/2 is a dual-port fiber Gigabit PCIe card with fiber LC connector; and the AT-2972ST/2 is a dual-port 10/100/1000T Gigabit PCIe card.

According to Allied Telesis, all three interface cards in the 2972 series are supplied with both standard full and half-height brackets. This is advantageous for computer manufacturers and distributors, because it reduces their inventory while enabling them to use one card for different types of computers. The 2972 series also offers support for a variety of drivers, including Windows Vista.

Allied Telesis' new 2972 series of interface cards include support for Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) and Wake-on-LAN. Using these, computers can be booted from the interface card independently of the hard disk or operating system. Thus, the 2972 series enables network engineers to power up a computer remotely and perform maintenance tasks on it without having to visit it, thus completing maintenance work faster and at a reduced cost, says the company

All 2972 interface cards are now available: The AT-2972T/2-001 for $250; the AT-2972SX for $700; and the AT-2972SX/2 for $1,100. Allied Telesis also says it is providing versions for US government and military organizations, which require the equipment they purchase to originate from a trade-compliant country.

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