Lucent Technologies has introduced Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) functionality for its high-capacity Cajun M770 Multifunction Switch for enterprise customers. It combines scalability of up to 210 OC-3 ports with up to eight times the aggregate bandwidth of previous generation ATM products, at prices that start under $1,000 per OC-3 port, and less than $29,000 for an entry-level 15-port OC-3 configuration.
The Cajun M770 is a 14-slot, multi-technology platform that can simultaneously support ATM and Ethernet in the same chassis via a dual-domain cell switch fabric and a frame switch fabric, and has an aggregate bandwidth of over 92 gigabits per second (Gbps). Lucent`s M770 provides network managers with a reliable and robust platform for the convergence of voice, data and video over a common ATM infrastructure. Designed around Lucent`s Switch Architecture For Extreme Resiliency (SAFER), the Cajun M770 distributes all critical switching, management and processing functions within a system chassis that provides multiple levels of redundancy for critical power, cooling and supervisory subsystems.
Additionally, Lucent`s new SAFER-LANE capability integrates distributed LAN Emulation (LANE) services over a scalable hardware server architecture to deliver unparalleled network reliability and performance that grows with an enterprise. Every Cajun M770 ATM module contains an integrated LANE server that provides any combination of LAN Emulation Configuration Server (LECS), LAN Emulation Service (LES) and Broadcast Unknown Server (BUS) services. SAFER-LANE distributes processing between the modules, enabling them to scale up to 1,400 MIPS in processing power, and provides customers with flexibility in designing and configuring LANE services for large ATM networks.
"With this announcement, Lucent has significantly upped the price/performance ante in the enterprise ATM space," comments Michael Speyer, program manager for data communications, at Yankee Group, a US-based market research firm. "The M770`s distributed switch fabric provides users with reliable operation and unique investment protection."
Tested By The Tolly Group The Tolly Group, an independent networking lab and strategic consulting organisation in the USA, recently tested the Cajun M770 with ATM and verified its non-blocking performance. According to Kevin Tolly, company president and CEO, "Our test results show that the Cajun M770 sustained full-duplex data streams at wire speed simultaneously on all 210 OC-3 ports - transmitting over 154 million cells of traffic - with no dropped cells."
"Lucent`s M770 with ATM has impressive density, and the distributed processor architecture gives us the kind of resilience and performance that we need in a core ATM switch," says Mike Taylor, assistant director of telecommunications at Temple University in Philadelphia, a beta test user of the product. "The M770 also has an intuitive command line interface which made the initial set up easy to complete. We installed the switch into our existing ATM network without a problem and today it`s working great."
The Cajun M770 will be initially available in a dual-domain configuration that combines the redundancy of multiple switches with the space efficiency and simplified management of a single switch. In this configuration, the M770 operates as two independent, 40Gbps 7-slot switches each supporting up to 105 OC-3 ports. The dual-domain M770 is ideal for mission-critical environments requiring complete network redundancy in the backbone.
This dual-domain configuration will be followed by a single-domain M770 supporting up to 210 OC-3 ports within a single switch fabric later this year. A backplane kit will allow users to easily upgrade existing M770 platforms to either configuration. NEBS Certified
The M770 with ATM has been certified to meet the Bellcore Network Equipment Building Standards (NEBS) Level 3 requirements. Level 3 is the most stringent NEBS certification level and has become a prerequisite for deployment with many carriers and service providers. For enterprise customers, NEBS certification provides assurance that the M770 has been tested and verified to be robust enough to meet one of the strictest standards in the United States for reliable equipment operation.
"We believe the new ATM capabilities of the Cajun M770 Switch, with its unrivalled next-generation performance and unmatched price points, provide our enterprise customers with a significant advantage over available competitive products," says Angus Peacey, regional manager for Lucent Technologies` Enterprise Data Networking Systems group.
Availability
The Cajun M770 Switch with ATM and its related modules are available as follows:
Future modules to be offered for the Cajun M770 with ATM include a 2.4Gbps OC-48 card, an Ethernet to ATM access module and WAN cards providing T1/E1 and T3/E3 connectivity. All M770 ATM modules are hot-swappable and can be used in any combination in the chassis.
Convergence-Ready Networking
The Cajun M770 is designed to be the core of Lucent`s integrated enterprise ATM voice/data solutions. Its ATM architecture provides efficient transport of multimedia information flows, offering substantial benefits to the legacy telephony networks that are a major part of today`s enterprise and Wide Area Network (WAN) infrastructures. With the installation of an M-SPS supervisor module to be available later this year, the M770 will support clock synchronisation of voice traffic between multiple Lucent DEFINITY Enterprise Communications Server (ECS) systems. This enables the M770 to become the focal point for a converged network infrastructure and simultaneously serve as a centre stage switch for the large number of DEFINITY ECS systems already installed around the world, and as a high-capacity backbone data switch.
SMON and AMON Management Capabilities
The Cajun M770 supports Lucent`s unrivalled Switch MONitoring (SMON) functionality, a network management application that enables managers to view all switch traffic in the network from a single application residing on the network management station. SMON, the RMON MIB extension designed by Lucent specifically for switched networks that is set to become an industry standard, allows simultaneous monitoring of real-time network traffic across multiple switches in a network and across all ports in a single switch.
The company`s ATM MONitoring (AMON) capability extends the Cajun M770`s overall monitoring capabilities to the ATM switch fabric. Like SMON, it is supported within the switching ASICs, providing the ability to perform sophisticated monitoring without impacting system performance. In combination with SMON, this provides users with the tools needed to monitor traffic within a mixed ATM/Ethernet hybrid network. AMON functionality is scheduled to be available in the fourth quarter.
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