Alcatel Launches Low-Cost Switch for Networks Supporting Voice/Data/Video Traffic - Alcatel's OmniStack 6024 - Product Announcement

Cambridge Telcom Report, April 17, 2000

Alcatel Tuesday announced a new low-cost, stackable addition to its OmniStack workgroup switch family with quality of service (QoS) and virtual LAN features to aid enterprises in building next generation networks that converge voice, video and data. Starting at $92 per port, the switch offers an extremely attractive price point for customers who are building converged networks.

The OmniStack 6024 is a 24-port 10/100 Ethernet switch with uplink options that can be stacked four high for a total of 104 ports. Each unit has two optional slots for stacking modules, fiber-optic Fast Ethernet modules (100BaseFX), or Gigabit Ethernet uplink modules (1000BaseSX, 1000BaseLX). Individual switches are connected together using 4 Gbps stacking connections, which ensures high performance for the entire stack. Within the stack, each unit forwards traffic at wire-speed.

"Customers looking for workgroup switches today find that they get sucked in with low prices but then must pay extra to obtain the technology and features needed to support next generation networks," said Joelle Gauthier, Alcatel vice president of enterprise data marketing. "The OmniStack 6024 bridges that gap by bringing affordability to a full-featured workgroup switch."

Intelligence is the Key

While the switch offers a low price, the real value is in the switch's intelligent performance. The switch features 802.1p-based flow classification, allowing network managers to give certain traffic types priority over other data. In networks that are integrating voice or video with data, the OmniStack 6024 can give delay sensitive data priority right up to the edge of the enterprise network.

The OmniStack 6024 also supports port-based and 802.1Q VLANs for network segmentation without the use of routers. These VLAN capabilities can also be combined with the 802.1p QoS feature to give priority to certain groups of power users.

For networks with multicast traffic, the OmniStack 6024 supports IGMP snooping, which reduces the impact of multicast traffic on stations that are not part of a multicast group. The switch does this by intercepting IGMP messages from end stations, noting those end stations and sending the multicast data only to them.

Easy Management

The OmniStack 6024 provides full SNMP support, RMON support and Web-based management. The OmniStack 6024 can also be integrated into an enterprise wide Alcatel network managed by its X-Vision network management suite.

Pricing and Availability

The OmniStack 6024 will be available in May 2000. The list price for an OmniStack 6024 ranges from $2,200 to $2,395. A 1000BaseSX Gigabit Ethernet uplink has a list price of $995, and the 1000BaseLX uplink costs $1,895. The list price for a stacking kit, which provides stackability for one switch, is $595.

Alcatel builds next generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data communications solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With 120,000 employees and sales of EURO 23 billion in 1999, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. FMI: http://www.alcatel.com.