Foundry Networks introduces ServerIronGT 10 Gigabit Ethernet switches

With a nod toward increasing network infrastructure flexibility, Foundry Networks on Thursday introduced two 10 Gigabit Ethernet switches aimed at speeding up application traffic, along with a new set of SSL acceleration modules for secure transactions.

Targeted at enterprise datacenters and service providers, the ServerIronGT Layer 4-7 switches are available in two form factors: ServerIronGT C is a 2U system, and ServerIronGT E is a 5U system. Both include load balancing and content switching features, as well as redundant power supplies, hot-swappable modules, and auto-failover capabilities. The units can accelerate applications ranging from VoIP to bulky Web applications.

"The only real difference between the two [ServerIron models] is in size and expansion capability," said Gopala Tumuluri, director of product marketing at Foundry. "Once you deploy these switches, you can expand and house them in ways so they will continue to evolve with your own demands."

Both switches include a 2-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet line card and a WSM7 management module. The smaller ServerIronGT C has three slots total, leaving one slot for expansion; the larger ServerIronGT E has four total slots, leaving two for expansion.

In the case of the ServerIronGT E, "you're trading rack space for expandability," Tumuluri said. However, he considered the 2U ServerIronGT C a good choice for space-constrained datacenters, where companies don't want to trade performance and availability for space savings.

In either case, users can expand port capacity easily, or double switch performance by adding a second management module. The modules are all interchangeable, so moving to a higher-capacity chassis is a relatively straightforward process.

The new SSL acceleration modules also offer greater capability: the SRVC-SSL6-1 model has one processor and supports 2,000 new SSL connections per second and 32,000 concurrent SSL connections, whereas the SRVC-SSL6-2 module has two processors and doubles the SSL6-1's performance numbers.

Foundry's SSL module "is a really nice piece," said Matt Philips, vice president of technology at Right Media. Right Media will be adding the module to its Foundry ServerIron 450 switches soon; the company previously had an SSL accelerator on the back-end infrastructure, but it was inflexible and difficult to manage. The new Foundry module will remove that extra management burden and better integrate SSL acceleration with the rest of the network.

Right Media is in the online ad serving business, so it has many short or small connections; it needs raw speed and bandwidth to keep performance levels high. The company uses Foundry's ServerIron 450 switches, and has been using 10 Gigabit Ethernet from the ServerIron 450s to its network core for about a year. The company is now extending 10 Gigabit Ethernet to the Internet cloud, "partly as an investment in building out our infrastructure; we didn't want to have to keep adding 1Gig trunk links over and over," Philips noted.

Currently, Right Media uses the four-slot ServerIron 450 switches with one 10Gb line card and one WSM switching module, and are "now filling that third slot with Foundry's SSL module, and the fourth will be another WSM module," Philips said. "So we'll be doubling our performance for a fraction of the cost of adding another one, and simplifying management."

That kind of flexibility was a key factor in the company’s decision to purchase Foundry switches. "Other vendors in this space aren't really modular at all," Philips said.

Another draw was the choice of an AC or DC power supply, an option also available on the ServerIronGT switches.

"My limiting factor in datacenter decisions is power," Philips explained. "The Foundry switches all have the option for doing DC power, which is much more efficient and runs cooler, and it really makes a difference for me."

The ServerIronGT switches and SSL module will be available in February. The 2U ServerIron GT C and 5U ServerIron GT E models are each priced at $39,995. The one-processor SSL6-1 acceleration module is priced at $9,995. The two-processor SSL6-2 module is priced at $17,995.