Modular Switching

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Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch 9000 Family

Alcatel-Lucent’s OmniSwitch 9000 remains a competitive modular mid-market product at a price point that holds its own in any RFP. For data switching needs, it offers a compelling solution, however, deploying it for PoE remains a weak point. (12/6/2011)

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Avaya Ethernet Routing Switch 8300

The Avaya Ethernet Routing Switch 8300 is competitive because of its low price point and architecture. The product is aging though, and in performance driven deployments, customers should consider an ERS 86/8800 or VSP 9000 to scale into the future. (12/7/2011)

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Brocade FastIron SX Family

Brocade‘s strong FastIron SX family was further improved with new 10G modules, new high availability features, and energy efficient Ethernet (EEE) support. Brocade has released a notable improvement for the campus modular platform. (12/7/2011)

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Cisco Catalyst 4500-E Series

Cisco’s Catalyst 4500E platform remains a cost effective, feature rich modular platform. Cisco has enjoyed much success, however there is increasingly aggressive and capable competition attacking from all sides. (12/7/2011)

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Enterasys S-Series

Enterasys S-Series is competitive in the high-capacity routing switch market suitable for campus and data center deployments as a core or aggregation switch. While attractive for its flexibility, its greatest strength lies in policy management. (12/7/2011)

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Extreme Networks BlackDiamond 8800 Series (8500/8800 Modules)

Extreme’s BlackDiamond 8800 with 8500/8800 series modules is competitive in the mid-range modular market due to its density, performance and operating system. However, priced at a relative premium, customers must weigh cost versus capability. (12/6/2011)

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HP E5400 zl

HP’s 5400 zl switch is one of the most capable converged edge chassis switches available today. Priced aggressively to displace fixed switch stackables and performing at nearly core switch class levels, the HP 5400 zl offers competitive punch beyond its weight class. (12/6/2011)

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Top

• Current Analysis Perspective
• Product Strengths & Weaknesses
• Product Point and Counterpoint
• Product Buying Criteria
• Product Metrics

Modular Switching Buying Criteria

• Management/Ease of Use
• Performance
• Port Diversity
• Scalability
• Total Cost Of Ownership

Modular Switching Product Metrics

• Physical Characteristics
  • Device Class
  • Primary Target Market
• QoS Features
  • Total Number of Transmit Queues Per Port
  • Total Number of Receive Queues Per Port
  • Strict Priority Queues
  • Rate Limiting Support
  • Rate Limiting Granularity
  • Classify by IP DSCP/TOS
  • Write/Re-write IP DSCP/TOS
• Protocol Support
  • 802.1w Fast Spanning Tree
  • 802.1s Per VLAN Spanning Tree
  • 802.3ad Trunking
  • 802.1x User Authentication
  • Network Login
  • IGMP Snooping
  • IP Routing
  • IP Routing Protocols
• Interface Support
  • 10/100Base-T
  • 10/100Base-T with 802.3af
  • 100Base-FX
  • 10/100/1000Base-T
  • 10/100/1000Base-T with 802.3af
  • 1000Base-X (GBIC or SFP)
  • 10G - Fixed Optics
  • 10G - Modular
  • Other (Specify Type and Port Count)
  • Special Modules (Non-line Cards)
• Chassis-Specific Characteristics
  • Total Number of Slots in Chassis
  • Reserved Slots
• Fabric Module
  • Fabric Type
  • Fabric Location
  • Fabric Redundancy
• High Availability
  • Hot-Swap Fan Trays
  • Hot-Swap Line Cards
  • Hot-Swap Management Module
  • Hot-Swap Fabric Module
  • Hot-Swap Power Supplies
  • Hot-Swap Other
  • Minimum Number of Power Supplies
  • Maximum Number of Power Supplies
  • Power Supply Load Distribution
  • Non-Stop Code Upgrade
• Performance
  • Backplane Size
  • Forwarding Rate
  • Switch Forwarding Latency
• Pricing
  • Bare Chassis Configuration
  • 10/100Base-T Line Card Price (non-PoE)
  • 10/100Base-T Line Card Price (PoE)
  • 10/100/1000Base-T Line Card Price
  • 1000Base-X GBIC/SFP Line Card Price
  • 10 Gig Modular Line Card Price
• Support
  • Standard Warranty
  • Enterprise Maintenance Contract