By Mae Kowalke
In the quest for faster, more robust data center networking solutions, enterprise IT managers are increasingly turning to 10Gb Ethernet. This trend is not lost on Alcatel-Lucent, which earlier this year introduced a new data center switching solution that landed the company on Interop 2011’s ‘best of’ award in the data center and storage category.
The solution builds on Alcatel-Lucent’s Fluent Network vision and OmniSwitch 10K Modular LAN Chassis by also including the 10GbE OmniSwitch 6900 Stackable LAN Switch and the virtual network profile (vNP) for switch provisioning, application prioritization, security, and quality of service (QoS).
In an InformationWeek report, analyst Kurt Marko said Alcatel-Lucent had the most compelling design and supporting products needed to create scalable, high-performance, cloud-type data center networks appropriate for modern virtualized applications.
Interop lead judge Steven Hill praised Alcatel-Lucent’s focus on robust technologies capable of meeting IT needs now and in the future.
“Companies planning to adopt 10Gb Ethernet and converged networking should take this as an opportunity to examine new and alternative networking strategies that can provide the same improved performance and flexibility that they've grown to expect from their other virtualization initiatives,” Hill said.
The InformationWeek report also highlighted energy-efficiency features of Alcatel-Lucent’s solution, making it appropriate for a wide range of deployment models.
Flexibility is a key aspect of Alcatel-Lucent’s strategy for the 10GbE market generally, and for this solution in particular.
“The battle is no longer about raw bandwidth, but about the relevance of an architecture that allows an enterprise to optimize latency for server-to-server (East-West) traffic in a highly scalable way, and span multiple sites," noted Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Networks VP and General Manager Michel Emelianoff, in a statement to the press.
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