Extreme scales heights with Aspen devices
Firm takes on Foundry and Cisco with switch series
Extreme has launched a high-density, high-availability switch aimed at taking on Foundry and Cisco's high-end devices.
The Aspen 880 series sports up to 432 copper 10/100/1000 Ethernet and Power Over Ethernet ports, 36 Gigabit Ethernet ports and a 48Gbps switching fabric in 10- and six-slot configurations. The series is intended for convergence applications, and is in part a response to a deal signed by Extreme and Avaya last year.
"This will compete against the Foundry MG8 and Cisco 6509," said Andy Zollo, UK channel manager at Extreme Networks. "Aspen has 'five nines' reliability, and a modular Unix-based operating system. Cisco has this for its high-end switches, but not here at the enterprise level."
David Grant, former managing director of Extreme in the UK and managing director of Matrix-owned reseller Bedrock Networks, welcomed the launch.
"We've sold a few ourselves, and it's good to see Extreme going back to its roots," he said. "This offers enough resilience for a five-year investment."