Cisco Catalyst 4948-10GE aces performance tests

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: NETWORK PRODUCT TEST RESULTS
09/06/05

Dear security.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* The Cisco's Catalyst 4948-10GE earns a Clear Choice award
* Links related to Network Product Test Results
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus:

Cisco Catalyst 4948-10GE aces performance tests

By David Newman

In an exclusive Network World test, Cisco's Catalyst 4948-10GE
delivered record low latency and line-rate throughput. Coupled
with innovative security mechanisms and an extensive list of
switching and routing features, this switch earns a Clear Choice
award.

With a price of $30,000, the Catalyst 4948-10GE is too costly to
be deployed in every wiring closet, but the price makes sense
for use in data centers where the switch can aggregate
connections from many servers and send traffic over a 10-Gigabit
Ethernet backbone.

The Catalyst 4948-10GE offers 48 copper Gigabit Ethernet and two
10G Ethernet ports, much like competing products from Extreme
Networks, Force10 Networks and Foundry Networks. There are some
key differences, though: The Cisco switch has a 1-rack unit
(1.75-inch) form factor, while Foundry's FESX448 occupies 1.5
rack units. The Cisco switch supports redundant power supplies,
while redundancy for Extreme's S400-48t requires one external
power supply (however, Extreme's external power supply can be
shared across multiple switches). On the downside, Cisco's
device is not expandable, unlike Force10's S50, and its list
price is higher than similarly configured competitors' switches.

Perhaps the biggest difference is Cisco's use of X2 transceivers
for 10G Ethernet interfaces. These are roughly the size of
Gigabit Ethernet transceivers, putting them about halfway
between 10G Ethernet Transceiver Package (XENPAK) transceivers
and smaller 10 Gigabit Small Form Factor Pluggable transceivers
(XFP) in newer 10G switches from Force10, Foundry and Nortel,
among others. One consideration for adopters of multiple
transceiver types is that they'll have to keep multiple types of
spares on hand, with prices well into the thousands of dollars
for each.

X2 transceivers are functionally identical to XENPAK
transceivers, while XFP transceivers offload the
serializer/deserializer (Serdes) function to the switch's
circuit board. Cisco says X2s boost reliability because a Serdes
failure requires replacement of just a transceiver rather than
an entire switch. We're not sure about that claim: While it's
still relatively early for XFPs, we've yet to junk an XFP device
because of a Serdes failure. We did verify that X2 transceivers
interoperate with both XENPAK and XFP transceivers over
single-mode fiber cabling.

To read more about the Cisco Catalyst 4948-10GE, please see:
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlprodrev6421>

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

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2. Cell carriers tackle Katrina damage
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3. 2005 salary survey
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4. Google dives deeper into networking
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5. Katrina news <http://www.networkworld.com/nlprodrev6424>

Today's most-forwarded story:

Cell carriers tackle Katrina damage
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlprodrev6425>

_______________________________________________________________
To contact:

Newman is president of Network Test, an independent engineering
services consultancy in Westlake Village, Calif. He can be
reached at dnewman@networktest.com.
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Ciena
Network World Executive Guide: Compliance can be an opportunity
for Network Improvements

Federal regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act are driving
increased corporate spending on key IT areas such as security,
authentication, access control and document management. Get
advice from experts. Read about real-world tactics. Learn about
the dark side of compliance: what happens when thing wrong. And,
how mandates are affecting IT budgets.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=112828
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Clear Choice Tests archive:
http://www.networkworld.com/reviews/index.html
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE
VoIP

For the latest in VoIP, check out NW's Research Center on this
very topic. Here you will find a collection of the latest news,
reviews, product testing results and more all related to keeping
VoIP networks performing at their best. Click here for more:
<http://www.networkworld.com/topics/voip.html>
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