New 3Com Switches Key To Enterprise Push

The networking hardware vendor's new core switching software, dubbed XRN, allows companies to connect multiple, stackable switches and manage them as a single switch fabric with a single routing table and IP address, said Jeff Garner, director of modular LAN products for 3Com Business Networks. The software will be available for 3Com's SuperStack 3 Switch 4900 family and the new Switch 4060.

XRN software will run alongside 3Com's modular switches in the network infrastructure.

Eric Dykes, network services division manager for Summit Systems, an Atlanta-based solution provider, said 3Com's latest releases are impressive. "This gives you a solution more geared to the core architecture with stackable switches," Dykes said. "This allows small and medium-sized businesses to have redundancy and scalability in their core."

Available in June, the Switch 4060 is a wire-speed, Layer 3 Gigabit switch with 24 ports and includes a hot-swappable fan and power supplies.

On the modular switch side, 3Com unveiled the chassis-based Switch 4007R, which adds redundancy features to its Switch 4007. The new version features dual switch fabric capability and scales to three power supplies, Garner said.

3Com also is upgrading its Switch 4005 with a new software release available in April that adds support for OSPF (open shortest path first). The vendor plans to add multicast routing capability to the 4005 in August, he added.