Product Brief
Metro Ethernet Routing Switch 8600
Ethernet has emerged as the infrastructure of choice for new service provider deployments as well as for Layer 2 enterprise -wide interconnect. Applications — such as Layer 2 Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) — and IP-based services — such as the triple play of voice, video and Internet access — are driving the often-cited growth in metro and wide area networks today. Ethernet leverages the decades-long investment in LAN- based networking to offer a packet switching technology that is the most cost-effective available today. For enterprises that want to cost-effectively extend LANs at native rates into the MAN and WAN, Ethernet is the answer. For carriers and service providers looking for a fast, reliable and profitable way to eliminate bandwidth bottlenecks in the MAN, Ethernet is the answer.
Metro Ethernet enables point-to-point, point-to-multipoint and any-to-any connection topologies that meet differing service and application requirements.
Nortel’s Metro Ethernet Routing Switch 8600 has been a workhorse for enterprises and a reliable profit-maker for service providers. It is leading the way in delivering scalable, feature-rich, Ethernet- based VPNs and next-generation Ethernet MAN infrastructure.
The Metro Ethernet Routing Switch 8600 delivers 100-Megabit, 1- and 10- Gigabit Ethernet interfaces with carrier- class performance, availability and
Quality of Service (QoS). Its flexibility, scalability and support for a wide variety of interfaces make it the natural fit for business-critical applications and services.
The Metro Ethernet Routing Switch 8600 delivers important benefits to service providers seeking to increase their Ethernet-based network footprint and to enterprises whose scale of operations leads to carrier-class solutions (Table 1).
