Foundry Networks - Data Center Solutions

Data Center Solutions

Next Generation Data Centers have demanding requirements in the areas of very high-density aggregation, superior availability, high resiliency, and high-speed interconnects. Minimizing the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) requires factors such as power consumption, cooling and rack space to all be minimized. Virtualization in data centers is now mainstream; implementing virtualization demands service flexibility to be offered in the network infrastructure.

Overview
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Overview

Foundry's Internet Data Center solution covers the data center needs from layer 2 to layer 7. At the heart of the solution is Foundry's high performance switch and router platforms, the BigIron RX Series switches, and the NetIron MLX Series routers. These platforms offer the high port density required in data center environments for server and backbone connectivity. The powerful architecture in these platforms provides the ability to minimize the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and increase performance in data centers that have a limited power budget. At the high end, the BigIron RX-32 offers up to 1,536 1-GbE ports or 128 10-GbE ports in a single system, and up to 2,304 1-GbE ports or 192 10-GbE ports in a standard 7 foot rack. Powered by a network processor architecture, the NetIron MLX Series offers a rare blend of advanced routing services, unparalleled service flexibility and wire-speed performance on up to 640 1-GbE ports or 128 10-GbE ports in a single system.

Data center servers may be connected directly to Foundry's high density BigIron RX routing switches or NetIron MLX routers above, or through FastIron Edge X-series (FES X) switches for traffic and cable grooming before feeding into the high density switches. With their native 10-GbE uplink support, the compact FES X-series switches are ideal top-of-the-rack switches for the data center, allowing cost-effective server aggregation without compromising performance. For high-end data center applications with high-touch processing or deep buffering requirements, the compact 1 RU NetIron CES 2000 Series of Layer 3 switches are ideal candidates.

For high security data centers, the NetIron MLX Series offers Multi-VRF routing, whereby multiple secure routing domains can be deployed. It is ideal for applications where isolation of traffic among different servers is required, for enforcing strict server access policies, while avoiding the complexity of MPLS-based VPNs.

The ServerIron family of layer 4-7 switches integrates into this infrastructure to provide intelligent server load balancing, application acceleration, and enhanced scalability and availability.

For Internet Data Center connectivity to ISPs providing transport, the NetIron XMR Series routers provide an ideal fit with flexible form factor, performance, and very high scalability. A NetIron XMR router with the capacity for up to hundreds of BGP peers and millions of BGP routes easily allows for peering with multiple ISPs to achieve load distribution, resiliency, and optimizing reach to the end user.

Related Products

Product	Description
FastIron Edge X Series	Foundry's FastIron® Edge Switch X-series (FESX) products—the FastIron Edge X Series 424 (FESX424), the FastIron Edge X Series 448 (FESX448), the FastIron Edge X... Learn more
FastIron SuperX	Foundry Networks FastIron SuperX/SX family of PoE-ready Layer 2/Layer 3 switches are built to deliver a reliable and secure Ethernet and IP services infrastructure for a... Learn more
BigIron RX Series Switches	The role of data networks in our daily lives continues to expand and grow. Emerging needs such as application convergence, non-stop operation, scalability and IPv6... Learn more
NetIron MLX Series Routers	Network planners today have to ensure that the solution chosen provides the right mix of functionality and high performance while reducing the total cost of... Learn more
NetIron XMR Series Backbone Routers	Today's Service Providers face a number of challenges that require a new breed of solutions in order to ensure successful and profitable operation. Service Providers ... Learn more
ServerIron 350/450/850 Plus Series	The ServerIron 350, 450 and 850 Plus Series features Foundry's ultra high performance application switches in a choice of three form factors. These switches can be customized... Learn more