Adtran Brings Gigabit To Desktop, Higher Density With New Switches

Adtran beefed up its NetVanta switching line on Monday, adding six new switches, two of which are targeted at bringing Gigabit to the desktop and two more that boost port density to give smaller companies some wiggle room for growth.

First come the NetVanta 1534 and 1534 PoE switches, 24-port Gigabit Ethernet switches that feature two Gigabit uplink ports. Joe McClain, product manager for NetVanta Switch Products, said the 1534 series is designed for the LAN closet to bring Gigabit to the desktop.

Next up is the high-density, 48-port fast Ethernet 1238 and 1238 PoE. Each features four Gigabit uplink ports, two copper and two combo ports.

Lastly, are the NetVanta 1234 and 1234 PoE, 24-port fast Ethernet switches with two copper and two combo Gigabit uplink ports.

McClain said the new switches add Gigabit PoE to Adtran's lineup, something it lacked before. It also boosts density with the 1238. For partners, that means a broader product offering.

Armando Garcia, president of Dicar Networks, a San Jose, Calif.-based solution provider, said the addition of Gigabit Ethernet and higher density switches to Adtran's lineup will help him compete better against solution providers offering switching lines from ProCurve Networking by HP, Netgear and Cisco Systems. He said Adtran had lacked those key components.

"They're brining enterprise level capabilities to the SMB and keeping the price points low," Garcia said, adding that the new NetVanta switches are a sign that Adtran is sincere about the market.

Garcia said trying to offer customers Adtran switches without a 48-port option was difficult.

"We weren't able to compete as effectively by offering two 24-port switches and not a 48-port," he said.

The addition of Gigabit Ethernet, Garcia said, will also help him get customers started on Gigabit to the desktop, another hole Adtran had it its portfolio.

"We can engage in conversations with more prospects than we had in the past," he said. "This demonstrates Adtran's commitment to the market place. They're going up market to bring more products, which helps us go after long-term customers."

All six of the latest NetVanta switches also have a Wi-Fi Access Controller feature to manage wired and wireless networks from a single platform, which eliminates the need for a dedicated WLAN controller. Twenty-four access points can be managed from one Wi-Fi Access Controller and access points can be connected anywhere on the Access Controllers local broadcast network. Channel partners, McClain said, can now manage customers' Wi-Fi networks remotely and launch new managed services around wireless networking and management.

McClain said the three new PoE models can conserve energy by powering down devices when they're not in sue. They also eliminate the need for additional electrical wiring and provide the infrastructure for VoIP, Wi-Fi and video surveillance solutions.

On the security side, the new NetVanta switches offer identity based services, which grants privileges based on user login, and RADIUS/TACACS+. The switches also integrate network access control, port security, 802.1q VLANs and 802.1x port authentication for VLAN assignments. They also encrypt management traffic using Secure Shell Protocol (SSH), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), SNMPv3 and Secure Copy (SCP).

They also feature cable diagnostics which can help VARs and end-users determine the length of the cable; whether the cable is correctly wired internally with pin-to-pin wire mapping; whether the cable contains a short; and whether the cable contains a broken wire. VARs can remotely troubleshoot problems to determine whether it is a cable issue.

Along with those features, the new NetVanta switches offer auto-configuration which automatically retrieves configuration file for DHCP. They also feature auto-install to automatically pre-configure a unit using files stored on Compact Flash, update firmware, install the configuration file and run TCL script.

Another new Adtran feature is the lifetime limited warranty, something Adtran had not offered in the past, McClain said.