Extreme Throws Down 10 Gig Gauntlet With New Modules
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Extreme on Monday pulled back the curtain of the BlackDiamond 8900 Series Modules for BlackDiamond 8800 Series switches, gear that can be used end-of-row or top-of-rack to build Gig or 10 Gigabit Ethernet data centers.
According to Kevin Ryan, Extreme's director of data center solutions, the modules are built for the six-slot BlackDiamond 8806 chassis switch and the 10-slot BlackDiamond 8810 chassis switch. All told, the modules can offer 80 Gbps per-slot capacity in the 8806 and 128 Gbps per-slot capacity in the 8810, and scale up to 582 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports.
Ryan said the 8900 Series comprises three modules: a management module, a 96-port 1 Gigabit Ethernet card and a 24-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet card. He added that modules can be mixed, and old service blades can be used in the chassis while new ones are added to boost capacity.
The modules upgrade the BlackDiamond 8800 Series platform with a 3.8-Tbit switching fabric. The modules also run the ExtremeXOS operating system for quick integration and network automation via Universal Port. Also enabled are XML, CLI and SNMP interfaces through EPICenter, Extreme's network management tool.
Offering 128 Gbps per slot bests some of the market leaders, Ryan added. According to product data sheets, Cisco's Nexus 7000 Series offers 80 Gbps and Juniper's EX8200 each offer 80 Gpbs. In addition, the 512 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports per rack in the BlackDiamond 8810 with 8900 Series modules trumps the competition. Product data sheets indicate that Cisco's Nexus 7000 tops out at 512 Gigabit Ethernet ports per rack while Juniper's offers 192 Gigabit Ethernet ports per rack.
Ryan said the 8900 series modules aim to offer scalability in both 1 Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet data center environments while offering high density with lower costs. As companies face economic pressures, Ryan said Extreme's data center offerings will be seen as a strong alternative to incumbents.
On the green side, the modules also feature a new hibernation mode, meaning they can dynamically power down during nonpeak usage times to reduce data center power consumption. Ryan added that the modules use a maximum of 2 Watts per Gigabit Ethernet port and 10 Watts per 10 Gigabit Ethernet port, ultimately lowering the total cost of ownership.
For the channel, Ryan said, the data center represents the next big opportunity in the marketplace, especially as traditional networking solution providers are starting to eye the data center and expand their focus, and more networking vendors launch ambitious data center portfolios.
"Value is going to drive a lot of the buying decisions in the data center," he said, adding that partners can tell the value story behind low acquisition costs and power savings offered by the 8900 Series modules.
The new modules join Extreme's arsenal of data center switching solutions, including the Summit X450a and Summit X650 top-of-rack fixed switches.
Ryan said the BlackDiamond 8900 Series modules will be available in June. The Managed Switch Module, the MSM128, will list for $24,995; the 24-port 10 Gigabit module, the 10G24X-c, lists for $44,995; and the 96-port Gigabit module, the G96T-c, lists for $24,995.