MEF to discuss Ethernet Network-Netwrok Interface standard

LightReading reports that the Ethernet network-to-network interface (E-NNI), describing how networks will hand off Ethernet services to one another, will be among the topics pursued at the quarterly MEF meeting today.

The above standard is required so that carriers can easily interface with local area and access networks to deliver Ethernet frames and thereby services to customers. At present, there is no standard and therefore carriers are implementing custom solutions. Since there is fierce competition and lack of partnership between carriers, the issue of standardization may be more complex this time.

Custom Search on Ethernet

Last week Google introduced the Custom Search Engine (see related blog at Google). The idea is to allow users to create tightly coupled search engines related to their website or their blog.

I tried to implement one for this blog, and so here it is. And it works great actually. Try searching for the keyword 'ofc' (standing for the Optical Fiber Communication Conference) on Google. What you get is a wide assortment of links, as ofc can stand for just about anything. Now try it on the search in this blog. Bingo! All the results are related to the conference OFC. Now, you can further refine the results by intelligent topics, lets say by 'epon' (Click on link epon), which gives results relevant to epon for OFC. Similarly try the topic 'Carrier Ethernet'. Aint it great?

But sure there is scope for further improvement. Thats why Google allows volunteers to refine the search further. Interested in helping out? E-mail me, or leave a comment here, and I will invite you to modify the search engine.

Ethernet Expo 2006

LightReading held its third annual get-together of ethernet service providers, and equipment manufacturers at New York last week. This seems to be emerging as a major event in terms of industrial exhibits, coming clsoe to Optical Fiber Communications Conference and SuperComputing Conference in terms of exhibit participation. A summary article is available at the Lightreading site here.

Marvell partners with Israel based EZChip for Carrier Ethernet solutions

Marvell will partner with EZChip to develop solutions that will feature enhanced capabilities, such as advanced Carrier Ethernet class traffic management and the programmability to support new Carrier Ethernet standards, protocols and flexible services. This will enable developers of Metro Ethernet switching and routing platforms to provide complete end-to-end solutions for next generation IP networks and Triple Play services in their products.

The press release is available here.

Verizon Expands Ethernet Private Network Footprint

Verizon is going to expand its Ethernet Virtual Private Network (EVPL) service to Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan to add to the existing EVPL service to 10 countries in Europe. This shows the growing business of carrier ethernet.

The EVPL provides a point-to-point virtual LAN with dedicated Wide Area Network capacity that can be used to connect multiple locations and is predominantly aimed at large corporations. It features the simplicity of Ethernet connectivity plus flexibility, bandwidth granularity and stringent Service Level Agreements.

Juniper releases MX960 for Carrier Ethernet

As was reported last week, Juniper Networks expectedly introduced its MX960 Ethernet Service Router for Carrier Ethernet services with 960 Gbps of routing and switching capacity (twelve 40 Gbps slots or 48 ports of 10 Gigabit Ethernet. It will be powered by the JUNOS operating system. Features include fully redundant hardware, separate data and control plane, graceful restart, multicast capacilities, MPLS traffic engineering, fast reroute, and multi-homing VPLS capabilities.

SilverStorm to use NetXen 10 Gig E adapters for Infiniband Cluster Switch

SilverStorm will use NetXen 10 Gig Ethernet adapters for its SilverStorm 9000 series of Multi-Protocol Fabric Directors, a high-capacity single-chassis cluster interconnect system. The flexible 9000 series platform will provide multi-protocol support using switch modules for InfiniBand SDR, InfiniBand DDR and Virtual I/O Controller modules for Fibre Channel and 10 Gig E.

Amsterdam begins deploying its Active Ethernet project

An update from the Amsterdam FTTH Active Ethernet project is available here. Cisco 7600 Series Routers and the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Switches will be used in the deployment.

Juniper to finally roll out Ethernet Switches

According to some news reports, Juniper will roll out the MX-Series, a line of Ethernet-optimized Layer 2-3 routing switches designed for aggregation at the service-provider edge. This will be to capture some market share in the Carier Etehrnet market where Cisco and Alcatel have made major inroads in.

Hitachi selects Neterion's Adapter for Blade Server

Neterion's 10 Gig Ethernet adapter will be included in Hitachi's BladeSymphony BS1000 server blade platform. This is as part of an agreement signed last year to promote Neterion's adapters in the Japanese high end server market.