Extreme packs big punch in desktop
switch
By Jeff Caruso
Network World, 11/09/98
Cupertino, Calif. - Desktop switches have begun to
take on features usually reserved for high-end chassis
systems, and the trend will continue this week as
Extreme Networks unveils the Summit24 switch.
Less expensive than chassis and more powerful than
conventional desktop switches, the new category of
switches has been gaining popularity over the past
year. For example, Bay Networks (now a division of
Nortel Networks) introduced the BayStack 450 in
July, Cabletron announced the SmartSwitch Router
2000 in September, and Cisco unveiled the 2926G
switch last month.
Like most desktop switches, these devices typically
have a fixed number of ports. But they also boast
some sort of priority queuing or qualityof-service
(QoS) mechanism, load sharing and Layer 3 switching
capabilities.
In April, Extreme introduced its first switch in this
category, the Summit48, and the upcoming Summit24
is simply a version of the Summit48 with 24 ports of
10/100M bit/sec Ethernet instead of 48. The new
stackable offering also has a Gigabit Ethernet uplink
to connect to a backbone network.
Lightpoint Entertainment is using the Summit24's
48-port big brother to connect approximately 40
Silicon Graphics workstations and servers, says Chip
Ray, CGI systems specialist at the Orlando, Fla.,
company.
All the graphics the company creates are stored on a
central server that can hold 300G bytes, and the
workstations access it over the network. Because the
switch operates at wire-speed, "users get the feeling
that the data is stored locally," Ray says.
Ray adds that the Extreme device's manageability is a
key to its value.
For example, Lightpoint can use the Summit48 to
assign file transfers a higher priority through the switch
than Web traffic or shared whiteboard applications.
The management features let Ray track utilization,
assign virtual LANs and adjust QoS levels.
While such functions are available on chassis-based
switches, the cost is much higher, Ray says. The
Summit24 will cost $5,495 for Layer 2 and $9,495
for Layer 3 functions. By comparison, Extreme's
BlackDiamond chassis starts at $15,995.
Filtering down
Users are starting to look for rich functions at the
network edge, says Mike McConnell, director of
enterprise management and LAN programs at
Infonetics Research in San Jose, Calif.
A recent Infonetics survey showed that the features
most important to network managers in workgroup
switches include SNMP management and QoS.
"This is typically stuff you find in the high end, but
users are starting to ask for it at the workgroup level,"
McConnell says. In backbone switches, the demand
is for high capacity and redundancy, he adds.
Advanced capabilities at the desktop switch level will
lay the groundwork for new network schemes in the
future, says Ron Westfall, an analyst at Current
Analysis in Sterling, Va. "To enforce policy-based
management throughout an architecture, you would
need Layer 3 functionality integrated onto your LAN
switch."
Layer 3 capabilities at the edge also mean less Layer
3 traffic weighing down the uplinks, notes George
Prodan, Extreme's vice president of marketing.
Extreme developed the Summit24 because many
customers don't need or want to pay for a full 48
ports, he says.
As LAN switches continue to reinforce their
commodity status, more functions will be standard on
low-cost devices, McConnell says. "The prices are so
compelling that users can get it all."
The Summit24 is shipping now.
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