I just went to the bank and my ATM said, "out of service". I know the PLUS network uses NT Passport switches, I wonder if their Passport 20000 went down. Wait a second, now I remember, NORTEL announced that product Feb 19th but you can't buy it for another year because it isn't shipping... Silly me (sorry, I couldn't resist)
Obligatory info on NT Passport 20000 already cross posted on NT thread:
Passport 20000 Review: (got this from a friend)
Issues
This is a stall tactic – Nortel appears to be repackaging the Passport 15000. The key components to increase the capacity are scheduled to be released almost one year from now.
Can Nortel deliver? – Nortel claimed the Passport 15000 would have a multishelf version ready in 2000 but never delivered this. Nortel must develop ATM cards (4-port OC-48 ATM as well as higher density low speed cards), POS cards (OC-192 and lower speed interfaces) and Ethernet cards (Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet). They must also develop a high speed switch fabric card (160 Gbps per card, full-duplex). All of these boards must be brought to market and supported in software in less than one year. This is a lot of hardware to deliver before the data sheet claims for this yet-to-be-released product can be realized.
Higher density low speed interfaces required – In addition to the high speed interfaces, in order to fully utilize the 10 Gbps capacity that the slots will eventually have, Nortel will also need to develop low speed interfaces (OC-3, OC-12) that have high port density. Depending on the capacity of low speed interfaces, 160 Gbps capability slated for 2003 may not be realized in all applications.
Cell based ATM switch – The Passport is an ATM cell based switch. While multiservice over ATM and multiservice over MPLS are promised, this product cannot perform as an IP router and cannot route IP packets.
Everything but a forklift upgrade - Deploying a Passport 15000 in 2002 will require upgrading the switch fabric cards and the function processors. While this isn’t a forklift upgrade (because the chassis stays the same) it’s close. While the chassis, power modules and the alarm/timing modules will not require upgrades, most of the cost is in the function processors and the switch fabrics. With current CapEx trends, deploying this is product is not economically viable until sometime in 2003 based on Nortel’s roadmap. |
