Juniper Networks this week rolled out a scaled-down version of its core packet transport router targeted at space- and power-constrained environments and metro networks.
The PTX3000 is the smaller brother of the PTX5000, which was introduced in March 2011 for national backbones. The PTX3000 is only 10.6 inches deep, a form factor that Juniper hopes will appeal to Tier 2 and 3 carriers with limited space and power-consumption challenges.
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The PTX3000 has a bandwidth of 24Tbps. It can hold a new two-port, line rate 100G Ethernet physical interface card that Juniper also unveiled this week. The router, along with the new line card, allow service providers to interconnect sites more than 2,000 kilometers -- or 1,243 miles -- apart.
The PTX will compete with Cisco's CRS-1 and CRS-3 routers. Those routers, however, take up much more space when they scale up to capacities approaching 24Tbps.
The PTX3000 will also go up against Alcatel-Lucent's 7950 XRS-16c, but that particular router only has a capacity of 6.4Tbps. The 7950 scales up to 32Tbps is configurations much larger than the PTX3000.
The PTX3000 will be available in the second half of 2013. Juniper said it will determine pricing at the time it ships.
Jim Duffy has been covering technology for over 25 years, 21 at Network World. He also writes The Cisco Connection blog and can be reached on Twitter @Jim_Duffy.
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