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IT Connection Product Assessment reports provide in-depth analysis of more than 275 products and services. Each Product Assessment report includes expert analyst advice and recommendations on what to look for when making buying decisions. Click here to view sample reports.

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Enterprise High Capacity Switch Routers

Report Information | Contents | Buying Criteria | Product Metrics |

Available Product Assessments

3Com Switch 8800
3Com’s Switch 8800 remains a key player in enterprise data center environments. With good performance, reasonable port density, and low pricing, 3Com continues to hold a solid number two in the worldwide Ethernet switch market. (4/9/2009)

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Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch 9000 Family
Alcatel-Lucent offers viable, but not market- leading, products with the OmniSwitch 9000 series of switches. Advanced management and security features, combined with aggressive pricing, keep this product in front of customers and competitive. (4/22/2009)

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Cisco Catalyst 6500/6500-E
Cisco’s Catalyst 6500 is king in high capacity switches, offering investment protection, port diversity and service modules for all needs. While no longer the performance leader, it remains the platform of choice for many enterprises. (4/22/2009)

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Enterasys Matrix X-Series
Enterasys’ rebranded X Series switches, while remaining competitive, have not kept pace in pure throughput and connectivity. However, its excellent management and security features help to balance its average performance and port diversity. (4/13/2009)

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Extreme BlackDiamond 10808
The BlackDiamond 10808 is Extreme’s top-of-line, high capacity switch. With good security but only average performance and port densities, the product is not a leader in its class. Extreme needs to offer throughput to match its name. (4/14/2009)

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Force10 Terascale E-Series 1200
Force10 remains a key competitor in high end data center switches with its TeraScale product. While this product is no longer a performance leader, it remains a strong competitor, especially when coupled with the new Force10 ExaScale offering. (4/9/2009)

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Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 8600
Nortel’s Ethernet Routing Switch 8600 platform remains a competitive offering with a wide array of line cards, good density and performance. While no longer leading in throughput, the 8600 remains a viable data center option. (4/14/2009)

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Product Assessment Report Information

Report Contents

  • Current Perspective Rating
  • Product Strengths & Weaknesses
  • Product Buying Criteria
  • Product Metrics

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Enterprise High Capacity Switch Router Buying Criteria

  • Performance
    • Performance criteria measures the aggregate capacity of the switch fabric, switching throughput, switch latency, and other factors which contribute to the overall speed and capacity of the device.
  • Scalability
    • Scalability criteria measures the ability of the solution to grow with the needs of the enterprise, encompassing chassis size, blade/port density, and how upgradeable the overall solution is.
  • Management/Ease of Use
    • Management and Ease of Use criteria identify hardware and/or software features that differentiate the administration, maintenance, and reliability characteristics of this product.
  • Total Cost Of Ownership
    • Total Cost of Ownership takes into consideration device pricing, warranty, and service pricing/offerings, as well as soft costs such as costs associated with deploying a specific product or training staff to use a significantly different interface.

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Enterprise High Capacity Switch Router Product Metrics

  • Physical Characteristics
    • Device Class
    • Primary Target Market
  • Qos Features
    • Total # of Transmit Queues per Port
    • Total # of Receive Queues per Port
    • One or More Strict Priority Queues
    • Rate Limiting Support
    • Rate Limiting Granularity
    • Classify by IP DSCP/TOS
    • Write/re-write IP DSCP/TOS
  • Protocol Support
    • 802.1w Fast Spanning Tree
    • 802.1s per VLAN Spanning Tree
    • 802.3ad Trunking
    • 802.1x User Authentication
    • Network Login
    • IGMP Snooping
    • IP Routing
    • IP Routing Protocols
  • Interface Support
    • 10/100Base-T
    • 10/100Base-T with 802.3af
    • 100Base-FX
    • 10/100/1000Base-T
    • 10/100/1000Base-T with 802.3af
    • 1000Base-X (GBIC or SFP)
    • 10G - fixed optics
    • 10G - XENPAC
    • 10G - XFP
    • 10G-Copper
    • Other (specify type and port count)
    • Special Modules (non-line-cards)
  • Fixed Switch: High Availability
    • Redundant Power Supplies
    • Non-Stop Code Upgrade
  • Fixed Switch: Performance
    • Aggregate Switch Throughput
    • Forwarding Rate
    • Non-Blocking Wire-speed
    • Switch Forwarding Latency
  • Fixed Switch: Pricing
    • Switch Price
    • Expansion Module Pricing
  • Chassis: Specific Characteristics
    • Total # of Slots in Chassis
    • Reserved Slots
  • Chassis: Fabric Module
    • Fabric Type
    • Fabric Location
    • Fabric Redundancy
  • Chassis: High Availability
    • Hot-Swap Fan Trays
    • Hot-Swap Line Cards
    • Hot-Swap Management Module
    • Hot-Swap Fabric Module
    • Hot-Swap Power Supplies
    • Hot-Swap Other
    • Minimum # of Power Supplies
    • Maximum # of Power Supplies
    • Power Supply Load Distribution
    • Non-Stop Code Upgrade
  • Chassis: Performance
    • Backplane Size
    • Forwarding Rate
    • Switch Forwarding Latency
  • Chassis: Pricing
    • Bare Chassis Configuration
    • 10/100/1000Base-T Line Card Price
    • 1000Base-X GBIC/SFP Line Card Price
    • 10 Gig XENPAC Line Card Price
    • 10 Gig XFP Line Card Price
    • 10 Gig Copper Line Card Price
  • Support
    • Standard Warranty
    • Enterprise Maintenance Contract

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