Cisco defends Catalyst update

Cisco is to introduce WAN modules to its Catalyst 6000 multi-layer switches for enterprise and carrier networks, it announced at its Partner Summit in Las Vegas.

Cisco is to introduce WAN modules to its Catalyst 6000 multi-layer switches for enterprise and carrier networks, it announced at its Partner Summit in Las Vegas.

But Cisco dismissed suggestions the product will cannibalise its router sales and legitimise a product category which its rivals are keen to exploit.

The FlexWAN offers a migration path for users that need higher WAN speeds than OC-3 interface. Cisco said it will not make its 7500 series routers obsolete.

Soni Jiandani, vice-president of marketing for the enterprise line of the workgroup business unit at Cisco, insisted the product lines will complement each other and said development of the 7500 series will continue.

She said: "The 7500 has a high port density and is used to aggregate WAN. The Catalyst will accept only one or two WAN ports. Also many services will be introduced to the 7500 that will not initially be available on the Catalyst."

Features from the 7500, such as virtual private network encryption and multi-protocol label switching, will migrate to the Catalyst, said Jiandani, who pointed out the IOS software is common to both platforms. The FlexWAN will eventually scale up to OC-48 and OC-192 interfaces, whereas the 7500 will not scale past OC-3, she said.

Cisco's rivals, such as Nortel, have long argued that switches with optical wide-area interfaces will replace old-world routers, and even though Cisco sees the router versus switch argument as an artificial marketing distinction, this announcement will allow Cisco to compete directly against products such as Nortel's Accellar.

The Catalyst will accept 20 different types of port adaptor from E3 to OC-3 and support many transport protocols including Frame Relay, ATM and packet over Sonet.