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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / AUGUST 4, 2003; VOL. 2 NO. 31
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Breaking News -
Networking:
Equipe Unveils Label Switch
Routing For The E3200
Equipe Communications Corporation announced the availability of Evail 3.0
software for the Equipe 3200 (E3200). Key to Evail 3.0 is the addition of LSR
functionality to the E3200's native ATM switching and ATM/MPLS Interworking
support. Together on a single platform, these three capabilities enable
carriers finally to realize the operational and capital cost benefits of a
common MPLS backbone network. Only a purpose-built platform like the E3200 can
make the MPLS core a reality for incumbent Layer 2 service providers, who
require preservation of traffic guarantees and operational visibility for
their high-margin ATM and Frame Relay services. "At SBC, we see MPLS as a
strategic platform for our converged service infrastructure for both Layer 2
and Layer 3 data services," said Bart Hawkins, general manager, Enterprise
Broadband Data New Technology Introduction, SBC. "We have a definite need for
solutions that will enable us to make the transition to MPLS in a way that
fully meets the unique requirements of both ATM and IP service portfolios,
fully leverages our very large installed base of network elements, and opens
the way to new revenue streams."
Unlike router-based implementations of MPLS, the Equipe 3200 offers:
1) Flexibility to Interwork ATM and MPLS or switch both in their native
formats,
2) Per-connection traffic guarantees and operational visibility for all
traffic types,
3) Highly available software with non-stop routing and forwarding of ATM
and
MPLS services, and
4) The virtual circuit and LSP scalability required to be deployed at the
core
of a connection-oriented carrier network
According to Kevin Mitchell, directing analyst with Infonetics Research,
these
capabilities enable carriers to migrate their high-margin ATM and Frame Relay
traffic to MPLS. The market for convergence platforms will begin taking shape
this year as carriers ramp-up plans for this migration. "The real financial
benefits of MPLS for carriers will occur once all traffic is sent over the
same backbone", said Mitchell. "A key question now being sorted out is what
type of platform will be used for network convergence. In our view, the
current generation routers are unlikely to be the gateways between profitable
layer 2 services and MPLS networks. That role will be filled by multiservice
switches with native ATM and MPLS capabilities."
The Equipe 3200 ATM/MPLS Multiservice Switch
- 200 Gbps of scalable capacity for today's ATM-based network
infrastructures, at speeds from OC-3/STM-1 to OC-192/STM-64,
- An operationally non-disruptive transition from ATM to MPLS (Multiprotocol
Label Switching),
- A new standard in high availability system architecture that addresses the
most serious software, hardware and element management system stability issues
facing service providers, and
- Operations cost reduction and enhanced asset utilization through
consolidation of core data networks and integration with emerging intelligent
optical networks via GMPLS
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