October 12, 1998, Issue: 736
Section: News & Analysis
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Fast Copper, Faster WAN Ports On Tap
John Fontana
Alteon Networks Inc. will take the wraps off the industry's first 1000Base-T network interface card at next week's NetWorld+Interop.
Also at the trade show in Atlanta, Cabletron will unveil new WAN interfaces for its SmartSwitch Router line, and Newbridge Networks Inc. will show wave division multiplexing interfaces for its ATM switch.
But Alteon will be breaking new ground with its ACEnic 1000Base-T NIC. For IT managers, 1000Base-T, or Gigabit Ethernet on copper, means they can keep existing wiring and still add high performance to servers.
But regardless of the underlying physical plant, some say gigabit pipes are overkill.
"The Intel-based servers can't push Gigabit," said Jeff Seldon, computer services manager for Lane County in Oregon. "But it will be interesting to see the new Xeon servers with Alteon boards."
The NIC will be priced under $500, more than 50 percent below Alteon's fiber-based ACEnic.
Mike Wolf, an analyst at Cahners In-Stat Group, said, "From what we're hearing, we expect the first quarter of 1999 to be busy with Gigabit Ethernet-on-copper announcements." Officials at Packet Engines Inc. confirmed they will deliver a 1000Base-T NIC in the first quarter of 1999. 3Com and Intel are likely to follow but haven't announced products.
Alteon also plans to demonstrate SmartTCP, a Layer 4 performance analysis system it developed with Netcom Systems Inc. The device tests TCP binding routes and session rates, active session capacity, setup performance, and a switch's ability to redirect and forward packets based on TCP information. The chassis-based device is expected to ship in November. Pricing has not been set.
Meanwhile, Cabletron is adding WAN interface cards to its Gigabit Ethernet SmartSwitch Router line. The cards are composed of a dual T1/E1 module for the 2000 model only, and a quad T1/E1 module and a dual high-speed serial interface (HSSI) card for the 2000, 8000 and 8600. The quad T1/E1 and dual HSSI modules have options for hardware compression and encryption.
"We are putting WAN interfaces on the SmartSwitch Router so we can apply all sorts of quality-of-service and class-of-service mechanisms over the wide area at gigabit speeds," said Richard Benwell, wide area router marketing manager at Cabletron.
The dual HSSI modules are priced at $10,995; the quad T1/E1 with compression and encryption is $8,495; the quad T1/E1 with compression only is $6,495; and the dual T1/E1 is $2,995. All the modules are due in December.
Also in Atlanta, Newbridge will unveil a series of enhancements to its core MainStreetXpress 36170 ATM switch and a new ATM switch.
Newbridge will add wave division multiplexing interfaces to the 36170 and combine ATM and WDM into a single managed platform, according to Olwyn Walter, assistant vice president of the switching products group at Newbridge. The WDM interfaces are expected to ship in January.
Newbridge also will unveil a series of IP initiatives along the lines of Multiprotocol Label Switching for mapping IP quality of service to ATM's quality of service, as well as stand-alone products that integrate digital subscriber lines and wireless into the 36170 switch. |
