Nortel Networks Corp. on June 4 announced at SuperComm 2002 two boxes that deliver Ethernet services and trunk customer traffic into service provider networks via Gigabit Ethernet uplinks.
Called OPTera Metro 1400 and 1450, the two devices can sit either in multi-business buildings or service provider points of presence.
The OM 1400 is a fixed-configuration device that has 12 copper Fast Ethernet ports and two Gigabit Ethernet ports facing customers. It also has two Gigabit Ethernet uplinks.
The OM 1450 has 12 fibre Fast Ethernet ports and two Gigabit Ethernet ports facing customers, and two Gigabit Ethernet uplinks.
The devices are part of Nortel’s carrier network architecture in which services are delivered over Ethernet, aggregated and transported over Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) links through the core of the network.
The OM 1450 will ship in the third quarter of this year, and the OM 1400 will ship in the fourth. Prices have not been set.
Nortel also introduced IPSec VPN support on its Shasta 5000 Broadband Services Node, enabling service providers to offer both IPSec and MPLS-based VPNs on the same device. Currently, the Shasta 5000 supports just MPLS-based VPNs that leave unprotected the traffic on links between customer sites and carrier POPs.
New software on the box will terminate IPSec tunnels from remote Windows PCs that have the Nortel Contivity VPN client on them. The Shasta gear can also terminate VPN tunnels from Contivity VPN gateway devices.
Nortel says the Shasta 5000 has a software interface to separate virus scanning and intrusion-detection software so providers can offer network-based antivirus and intrusion-detection services. The company says these separate applications are being tested now and will be available later this year. This software will be provided by third parties that have not been announced.
Nortel is also incorporating NetRIO software on the Shasta platform that lets customers view management information about the services they buy from carriers. NetRIO also enables them to add and drop services via a secure Web interface. Service providers will have the option of how much control they want to cede to customers.
NetRIO is made by Technica.
