From Troy Larsen, as posted
to comp.dcom.sys.cisco. (Thanks to Jim Rich for forwarding it.)
Tuesday April 6, 8:30 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
MRV Communications Inc. Introduces Industry’s First
High-Performance Linux Switch Router
The OSR8000 is the First High Performance Enterprise Routing
Switch to Integrate the Linux Operating System
CHATSWORTH, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–April 6, 1999– MRV
Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:MRVC – news), a leading provider of
high-speed optical network components and systems, today announced
the first high performance enterprise switch router to integrate
the Linux Operating System under its NBase-Xyplex brand name.
“The OSR8000 has addressed the market demand for a flexible,
high performance enterprise solution that increases network
bandwidth on demand and preserves mission critical application
requirements for enterprise and service provider networks,” said
Noam Lotan, president and CEO of MRV Communications.
This revolutionary router was featured in this week’s issues of
PC Week, Network World, Internet Week and EE Times. High
performance has been integrated with the “Open” architecture of
Linux to create a seamless, high performance enterprise switch
routing package for enterprise and service provider networks.
This is the first high performance Linux Router using the
strength, flexibility and scalability of an “Open” architecture,
giving the customer basic block functions and programmable
interfaces.
The OSR8000 is a Linux switch router in an 18-slot chassis with
a 40-Gigabit-per-second routing fabric, frame and cell scheduling,
and high speed ASICs, supporting up to 26 million packets per
second of throughput. A special feature is the programmable
“Packet Flow Processors” for smart networking applications. These
new features can be deployed without additional hardware upgrades,
saving customers time and resources.
A Common Routing Platform Approach
Today, “Open Source” routing is rapidly gaining favor among
developers. A recent survey by Evans Marketing Services showed that
53% of surveyed developers are in favor of open source software. A
recent series of key developments is helping Linux to emerge as a
new viable standard in Enterprise Operating Systems.
New enhancements to Linux are beginning to catch the attention
of the corporate IT groups. Improved interfaces, symmetric multi-
processing performance and an extended file system are, but a few
of the improvements that place Linux on a par with NT and
NetWare.
These improvements have attracted industry leaders such as IBM,
Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq, Intel and Dell computers in
support of the Linux Open architecture.
Breakthrough Capabilities in Application Development
Most competing high-end switch router vendors require their
customers to use a proprietary software engine for all routing
features. The proprietary software running their routers restricts
users who wish to add new applications to their products. With
Linux as its software systems base, the OSR8000 allows customers
who require this capability access to the basic block functions and
programmable interfaces needed for application development.
“The industry is growing and changing fast, but our average
(service) contract is seven to 10 years,” said Tejas Vashi, data
communications product manager at Broadband Network Inc., in State
College, Pa., and NBase user. “There will be (a) lot of changes
over that time, so we’ll need to change, scale and migrate that
system over (the) life of the contract. Something like (the
OSR8040-L) lets us add and delete things as we require on the core.
It lets us tailor the applications to the network itself.” (PC
Week, April 5, 1999)
Customers who are unable to build their own applications will
also benefit from the open system routing design. As new networking
technologies and capabilities become available, they must first be
ported to a router’s base code before the new features can be
utilized. The Linux Open architecture encourages the thousands of
software developers to continue releasing new features.
To further complement enhanced routing, the OSR8000 includes
integrated application services with the multi-service functions of
the Linux OS. These include programmable Packet Flow Processors for
`smart’ networking applications, the CODA distributed file system,
improved directory services, enhanced symmetric multiprocessing
performance, load balancing and fault tolerance.
Configuration
The OSR8000 is an 18-slot modular chassis with a 40-Gigabit per
second routing fabric, frame and cell scheduling, and high speed
ASICs. Optional modules provide a flexible selection of port
density and speed with 128 x 10/100 Ethernet ports, 64 OC12 ports
or 32 x 1Gbps ports. Future modules will include 128 ATM or POS OC3
ports and WDM and long-reach optics.
To ensure high-end scalability, the Linux Operating System
supports multiple processors and also supports IPsec. The OSR8000
includes support for Quality of Service, numerous security
features, policy-based management, SNMP, RMON, VLANS, IP CIDR and
router clustering.
It also includes a full suite of routing protocols and
applications, including: IP, RIP1/2, OSPF DHCP, ICMP, EGP, GDP,
IRDP, IPX, MBR, IGMP, DVMRP, PIM, SAP, NetBios, AppleTalk, DECnet,
NAT and IP Masquerading.
Availability
The base chassis and initial modules of the OSR8000 routing
switch will be available in the 3rd quarter of 1999. The Linux
Switch Router was developed and will be manufactured by MRV’s NBase
division in Yokneam, Israel.
About MRV Communications Inc.
MRV Communications is a world-class leader in high-speed optical
network components and systems. Its products integrate switching,
routing, remote access and fiber-optic transmission to enhance the
performance of LANs (local area networks) and WANs (wide area
networks) and telecommunications networks. MRV’s fiber-optic
transmission components send voice, data and video to carriers and
residential networks.
Through its NBase-Xyplex brand, the company provides network
enhancement solutions that accelerate the deployment and improve
the performance of complex data networks.