Brocade Preps 100G Launch

Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:56

Brocade Communications Systems Inc. plans to announce 100-Gbit/s interfaces for its NetIron MLX router in September, Light Reading has learned. Brocade CTO Dave Stevens mentioned it today during a media and analyst tour of the company's brand spankin' new data center, at its headquarters here. Today, the MLX can support 256 ports of 10-Gbit/s Ethernet, all at line rate, a density Brocade says is unmatched. Starting in September, Stevens says, it will support 32 100-Gbit/s ports. He's not giving out any product specifics, though. Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO), Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. , and Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) have announced (or at least made mention of) 100-Gbit/s interfaces for their routers. Brocade hasn't disparaged 100 Gbit/s, but when the topic has come up before, officials have pointed to their routers' ability to use link aggregation, combining 10-Gbit/s lines to create a virtual connection as large as 320 Gbit/s.  Separately, the MLX's 10-Gbit/s density has been a selling point for some customers. It was a factor in the Amsterdam Internet Exchange B.V. (AMS-IX) re-upping its long-standing contract with Brocade (formerly Foundry Networks) earlier this year.  — Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading