Cisco Bolsters High-End Switch Line

The new offerings include a 48-port Gbit Ethernet-over-copper module for data centers, a 24-port mixed media Gbit Ethernet module for fiber optic or copper cabling, and new modules that support 10-Gbit Ethernet over multimode fiber.

"We see this giving the channel new things to sell to existing customers [and] upgrade cycles that can be churned," said Doug Gourlay, senior product marketing manager for the Catalyst 6500 line at Cisco, San Jose, Calif.

The new modules could also lead partners to consulting opportunities around data center and server consolidation, he said.

The 48-port Gbit Ethernet module, available now for $15,000, provides throughput of 400 million packets per second (Mpps) for Internet Protocol version 4 and 200 Mpps for IPv6. It also provides 9 Kbytes of Jumbo Frame support, which would speed large-scale data transfers, interconnections for network-attached storage and tape archiving, Gourlay said.

The 24-port Gbit Ethernet module, available now for $15,000, increases the fiber optic-based port densities of the Catalyst 6500 by 50 percent while decreasing its suggested price-per-port by 33 percent, he said.

Cisco's new multimode fiber optics options for its 10-Gbit Ethernet module, available in two versions, should help increase the adoption of 10-Gbit Ethernet in the enterprise, as about 70 percent of enterprise customers use multimode as opposed to single-mode fiber, Gourlay said.

Scheduled for availability by the end of the year, the two versions include the 10GBase-SR, used for distances of up to about 200 feet, and the 10GBase-LX4, for distances of about 1,000 feet using standard fiber cabling. They carry list prices of $3,000 and $4,000 respectively.