MARCH 29, 2007 -- Network storage extension developer PacketLight Networks Ltd. (search for PacketLight) has released the PL-400, which the company claims is the first connectivity system over dark fiber and WDM networks to provide eight services each supporting up to 4.25 Gbits/sec in a 1-U box. The company also says that the PL-400 is the first offering to include Layer 2 performance monitors, regenerator functionality, and protection in this size. The optical transport product supports data, storage, voice, and video services at any mix.
The PL-400 is designed to offer cost efficiency and flexibility by incorporating features typically found in much larger products. The system supports both CWDM and DWDM optical links and the chassis can be cascaded to provide scalability for more than 32 services. The PL-400, which exhibits low power consumption, is typically deployed as customer-located equipment in enterprise campus environments and central offices.
Koby Reshef, PacketLight's vice president of marketing, comments, "With eight 4G FC [Fibre Channel] ports and performance monitors for GbE [Gigabit Ethernet] and FC, [the PL-400] is a perfect solution for connecting SANs and LANs. We have seen a great level of interest by many partners in this product, for these as well as additional applications such as video transport."
The PL-400 supports services such as GbE, 1G/2G/4G FC and FICON, ESCON, Fast Ethernet, STM-1/4/16 SDH or OC-3/12/48 SONET, InfiniBand, video (DVB-ASI), and GPON in any mix. Two optical supervisory channels (OSCs) are provided for out-of-band management. The connectivity device contains built-in passive optical filters (multiplexers/demultiplexers) and two erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) boosters, enabling point-to-point, linear add and drop, and ring topologies in both transponder and regenerator modes. It also incorporates performance monitors for GbE and 1/2/4G Fibre Channel as well as facility and equipment protection. PacketLight is billing the PL-400 as best suited for connecting remote SAN and LAN islands with a capability of eight interfaces of 4G FC over 80 km.
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