Press Releases
2008
FORCE10 NETWORKS INCREASES DEPLOYMENT FLEXIBILITY AND INVESTMENT PROTECTION OF C-SERIES SWITCHES WITH FLEXMEDIA LINE CARD
SAN JOSE, Calif., August 18, 2008 – Force10 Networks®, the pioneer in building and securing reliable networks, today announced that it has increased the deployment flexibility of the C-Series family of resilient switches with the new FlexMediaTM line card that combines copper and fiber Gigabit Ethernet interfaces with 10 Gigabit Ethernet to help customers optimize their networks to meet unique traffic and application needs. As traffic demands change, the Force10 FlexMedia line card allows customers to cost effectively transition to higher speeds while protecting existing investments.
“To accommodate an ever-changing mix of traffic and applications on the network, organizations require a flexible and dynamic set of tools that will allow them to optimize their network as required without a significant investment in new equipment,” said Stephen Garrison, vice president of marketing at Force10 Networks. “With the FlexMedia line card, Force10 delivers that flexibility to help customers transform their networks into strategic assets.”
The FlexMedia line card supports 36 10/100/1000BaseT ports, eight Gigabit Ethernet ports with SFP modules and two 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports with SFP+ modules. Leveraging all line card slots, customers can deploy the C-Series with as few as 36 line-rate Gigabit Ethernet ports and as many as 384. As they begin to transition to 10 Gigabit Ethernet, customers can deploy anywhere from two to 64 Ten Gigabit Ethernet ports without purchasing a new line card.
The unique diversity of ports on a single line card enables customers to maximize the slot capacity of the C-Series switches as they transition to Gigabit or 10 Gigabit Ethernet. With the FlexMedia line card, customers do not need to utilize a full slot for fiber Gigabit Ethernet or 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections. Instead, they can devote those slots to aggregating servers or other devices at the edge of the network.
“As organizations continue to face space limitations and IT budget pressures, it is critical that they look to solutions that optimize both space and existing investments,” said Cindy Borovick, research vice president for IDC’s Datacenter Networks service. “The flexibility provided by the combination of Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces on a single line card is an effective way for network managers to maximize the capacity of their switches given current needs as well as anticipated future needs.”
As customers transition to 10 Gigabit Ethernet, the Force10 FlexMedia line card offers a cost-effective upgrade path without compromising system reliability or performance. Traditionally, 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks are included on the control module, and if the module fails, the uplink goes down as well. Additionally, with uplinks sharing processing power with the control module, throughput is not always line rate, which may impact the overall system performance. With the FlexMedia line card, 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks are on a separate line card to guarantee line-rate throughput and ensure continuous availability.
To simplify management as traffic needs change, the Force10 FlexMedia line card allows all ports to be used simultaneously at line-rate together with ACLs and QoS policies. Additionally, the C-Series supports FTOS, Force10’s modular operating system. FTOS further enhances the resiliency of the C-Series with modular processes that prevent errors in one process from impacting other processes. With full inline monitoring and diagnostics tools, the C-Series also enables network managers to troubleshoot issues without bringing the network down.
With support for Power over Ethernet, the Force10 FlexMedia line card supports the transition to converged networks. Using PowerSmart, Force10’s dynamic power provisioning technology, network managers can optimize their power needs. PowerSmart automatically senses and provisions required power to attached devices, including phones, wireless access points, security cameras and other powered devices on the network. Additionally, PowerSmart allows network managers to further tune their needs by prioritizing ports to ensure availability in the event of a power supply failure.
The Force10 Reliable Networking product portfolio delivers the tools and features that organizations require to fully leverage their networks as a business-critical asset. With investment protection features, such as the FlexMedia line card, the Force10 product portfolio ensures that customers meet their networking needs as traffic and application mix changes.
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Contact:
Peter Ruzicka
Force10 Networks Inc.
408-965-5151
pruzicka@force10networks.com
Force10 Networks and E-Series are registered trademarks and P-Series, S-Series, TeraScale and FTOS are trademarks of Force10 Networks, Inc. All other company names are trademarks of their respective holders.