Riverstone Networks Inc. Monday announced a service provider switch that is aimed at bringing manageable, Internet core-level bandwidth to customers of metro area service providers.
The RS 3000 Optical Metro Access Router is a network edge device that sits on a customer's premise and feeds into a metropolitan-area network (MAN). The device combines a number of media interfaces to deliver data services across optical, ATM, and traditional Ethernet networks. This allows the RS 3000 to bring optical signals from a MAN backbone to a customer site and convert it to whatever traffic type required.
"This device allows service providers to bridge the gap between optical and legacy networks," says Ed Chang, marketing director for Riverstone.
The RS 3000 has 32 10/100 Base-TX Ethernet ports, with expansion slots for wave division multiplexing, Gigabit Ethernet, ATM and packet-over-SONET connectivity. The device also has Multi-protocol Label Switching (MPLS) capabilities for bandwidth management and traffic prioritization.
For service providers targeting MANs and multitenant office buildings, the ability to fine-tune how bandwidth is delivered to customers is an important feature, Chang says.
"If service providers have bandwidth carving, they can slice their traffic anyway they want," Chang says. This "bandwidth carving" he says provides an array of data pipe sizes that customers can chose from.
"[Service providers] can offer specific megabit rates and guarantee bandwidth levels for certain user groups," he says, adding that a group could be a department in an individual company or single business customers in a multitenant office. MPLS also allows enterprise customers to easily purchase bandwidth-on-demand services when a temporary boost in a data pipe is needed, Chang adds.
"The enhanced intelligence features of the RS 3000 helps to bringing MPLS further down the edge," says Ron Westfall, a senior analyst with Current Analysis of Sterling, Va. Westfall says the MPLS technology inside the box will allow service providers to offer new services for less. "Customers could receive MPLS-based VPNs and site-to-site VPNs that can be efficiently implemented and configured for smaller businesses," he says.
The RS 3000 is SNMP-compliant, which allows the customer-site device it to be remotely managed and configured by a service provider. The device also includes integrated billing software to keep accurate bandwidth usage and billing records.
The RS 3000 is available now to service providers and costs $8,995.www.riverstonenet.com.