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Technology Stocks : Voice-on-the-net (VON), VoIP, Internet (IP) Telephony -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1551)	10/15/1998 9:16:00 PM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 3178

Frank & All: Don't ya just lov this stuff, never a dull moment in this field, <g> 3Com preps for voice over IP with gigabit modules By Jim Duffy Network World Fusion, 10/14/98 3Com is attempting to deliver telephony-like reliability to next-generation enterprise packet networks with this week's rollout of Gigabit Ethernet for its high-end backbone switch. 3Com announced pricing and availability of Layer 2 Gigabit Ethernet modules for the CoreBuilder 9000, a frame- and cell-based enterprise backbone switch that 3Com says can scale to 140G bit/sec. With the redundancy built into the CoreBuilder 9000, 3Com says its can now offer PBX-quality reliability for the "next wave" of business applications, which will run voice and video over data networks. The CoreBuilder 9000 is a 16-slot, high-density switch that aggregates Ethernet and ATM links from desktop, workgroup and wiring closet switches. It features redundant switching fabrics and management controllers, up to four power supplies, and every module is hot-swappable. This architecture delivers 99.99% reliability, 3Com claims, which is vital for running voice and video applications over a data infrastructure, commonly referred to as a multiservice network. The new Gigabit Ethernet modules will ensure that this resiliency is available for users running multiservice applications over Ethernet. The modules include two-port 1000Base-SX, two-port 1000Base-LX and 9-port 1000Base-SX. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., has been beta testing the two-port Gigabit Ethernet modules for months to connect 64 Pentium Pro-based PCs in a cluster to achieve supercomputer-type performance for simulating biological molecules. "It's worked out so effectively, we're getting an additional 64 Pentium IIs," said Eric Billings, a staff scientist at NIH. "Of course, higher density will help us out. You only have so many blades, and we can't get to 128 ports like we'd like with the current density. So we're looking to the next higher density combination." Ostensibly, that would be the nine-port blades, but Billings said they are not shipping to beta sites yet. 3Com said they will ship to customers in the first quarter of 1999, which is when Billings expects to receive his. The two-port SX and LX modules are shipping now. They cost $3,950 and $5,950, respectively. The nine-port module will cost $14,000. 3Com also rolled out Layer 2 and Layer 3 Fast Ethernet switching modules for the CoreBuilder 9000. They support from 10 to 36 ports and range in price from $7,950 to $19,950. A couple are shipping now, but the 36-port modules and the Layer 3 blades will ship in December. The company also announced a 48G bit/sec switching engine for the CoreBuilder 9000. It costs $12,950 and is shipping now. Layer 3 Gigabit Ethernet modules for the CoreBuilder 9000 will ship in the first half of 1999, 3Com said. Ohio State University is anxiously awaiting those for a campuswide multicast video application. "It's supposed to be a (CoreBuilder) 3500 on a blade," said Kurtis Lindemann, network specialist for Ohio State's Fisher College of Business. The CoreBuilder 3500 is 3Com's low-density Layer 3 switch and it supports the Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP). DVMRP will allow Ohio State to more efficiently control multicasts by containing them to one building or one subnet if desired, Lindemann said. 3Com did not disclose pricing or port density for the Layer 3 Gigabit Ethernet module.