The Brocade NetIron MLX Series of routers is the industry’s most powerful suite of IPv4/IPv6/MPLS/Multi-VRF switching routers. Its robust system architecture, versatile feature set, and choice of form factors makes it capable of scaling from the edge to the core.

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have been a key application in networking for a long time. A slew of possible solutions have been proposed over the last several years.

In order to truly align the enterprise infrastructure strategy with business requirements, organizations must be free to choose the solutions that best meet their unique needs and based upon open standards, not proprietary, closed systems.

The Provider Backbone Bridges standard, IEEE 802.1ah, was developed to address the limitations of the Provider Bridges standard, IEEE 802.1ad, and to add additional capabilities sought by service providers.

The demand for IP-based services such as VPNs, Voice over IP (VoIP), IPTV, video conferencing, and hosted applications is driving explosive growth in the amount of IP traffic traversing global communications networks.

IronWare® operating system software provides the intelligence behind the high-performance switches, routers and application load balancers from Foundry Networks. Leveraging over 8 years of experience in powering global networks, IronWare has incorporated continuous innovations to ensure non-stop operation of networks.

An overview of Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) and Virtual Leased Line (VLL) and Brocade solutions for deploying them.

Today’s network planners require solutions that provide the right mix of functionality and high performance while reducing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). In addition, a solid, future-proof network design must be able to handle the rapid pace of technology change.

The unique set of high-performance, reliable, and cost-effective optical transceivers from Brocade® help enterprises and service providers meet the challenges of diverse network topologies. To ensure the highest level of quality, Brocade selected and tested the most reliable and best performing optical transceivers on the market, and Brocade warrants their availability, capacity, and performance in Brocade products.

March 7, 2007 -- Foundry announced the availability of a common set of packet over SONET/SDH (POS) interfaces for its NetIron XMR series of Internet routers and the MLX series of metro routers. The POS capability offers ISPs, IXCs, MSOs, and metro and wireless operators the ability to leverage their SONET/SDH infrastructure to deliver broadband services.

Carrier Ethernet equipment is one of the fastest growing markets in the Communications Service Provider (CSP) infrastructure equipment market. Frost & Sullivan estimates the total carrier Ethernet switch/router market, defined as the sum of carrier Ethernet Demarc, Access, Aggregation, and Service Edge, revenue in 2008 was 5.3 billion USD.

Network managers who deploy a variety of Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet and 10GbE switching devices in their networks need guaranteed interoperability of these switches in order to maintain a functional network.