Data centers are simultaneously experiencing growth and incorporating technology to benefit from fibre channel/Ethernet convergence. Both factors have led to the need for a 10 GE network infrastructure that includes FCoE, expansion of SANs and a virtualized data structure.

The Ethernet Alliance's demonstration, entitled "Ethernet: THE Converged Network," demonstrates all of these technologies. Ixia's XM12 chassis, IxYukon 10 GE load modules and test applications are used throughout the demonstration to test FCoE protocols, SAN performance, 10 GE switch performance and virtualized infrastructure performance.

Ixia's test solutions allow equipment manufacturers, data center operators and storage vendors to assess the functionality and performance of their Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE), Data Center Ethernet (DCE), Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), and Storage Area Network (SAN) devices.

Solutions that Ixia will demonstrate during the conference include:

- CEE/DCE/FCoE - The convergence of Local Area Network (LAN) and SAN traffic requires a multi-level testing approach, from the physical layer through FCoE protocols to lossless Ethernet. Ixia provides testing solutions for CEE/DCE, as well as FCoE. Testing of these technologies will be demonstrated with Cisco, Fulcrum and Mellanox.

- SANs - The explosion of storage capacity delivered over converged networks requires that large-scale emulation be applied to SAN components: CNAs, FCoE initiators/targets, and SAN switches/arrays. IxSAN tests performance and interoperability, without the need for disk and tape farms. IxSAN will be used to test the performance of Dell and NetAPP SAN devices.

- Virtualization - Ixia's IxVM enables infrastructure performance benchmarking in virtualized data centers. IxVM leverages Ixia's technology to generate test traffic from within the server infrastructure, determining a data center's virtual infrastructure performance. IxVM will be used in conjunction with a VM Server featuring QLogic converged network adapters (CNAs) - measuring VM performance.

Ixia is a provider of converged IP performance test systems and service verification platforms for wireless and wired infrastructures and services. Ixia's test systems are used by network and telephony equipment manufacturers, semiconductor manufacturers, service providers, governments and enterprises to validate the performance and reliability of complex networks, devices and applications. Ixia's multiplay test systems address the growing need to test voice, video and data services and network capability under real-world conditions.

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F5 Networks uses Ixia test equipment exclusively in its F5 Technology Center in Seattle, Washington, where it conducts very large scale demonstrations and proof of concept validations for its customers. With its complement of Ixia Acceleron-NP and application stream module (ASM) load modules, F5 is able to verify the maximum performance of its ADC, including throughput, and layer 4 and 7 connections and transactions per second (TPS and CPS) as well as maximum concurrent connections.

"Ixia is the only performance test vendor to offer a solution for ADCs, particularly in the difficult SSL TPS and layer 4 connections per second benchmarks," said Mike Lowell, Director of Product Management Engineering at F5 Networks. "Testing ADCs requires best-of-breed layer 4-7 testing equipment, so naturally Ixia was our vendor of choice."

In the most recent demonstrations, F5 said each Acceleron-NP load module was capable of 760,000 layer 4 connections per second and 38,700 SSL transactions per second. Only two Acceleron-NP load modules were needed to match Viprion's 1 million layer 4 connections per second and four load modules to test Viprion's 155,000 SSL transactions per second.

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ESnet and Internet2 have both begun aggressive projects to pursue deployment of testbeds and eventual production deployment of 100GbE to support the growing data demands of scientific research. With these industry-leading partners, both Internet2 and ESnet are continuing to pursue their vision for 100GbE-capable research and education (R&E) networks.

Juniper's T1600 will support the industry's first 802.3ba compliant 100GbE router interface, which is also being demonstrated in Juniper's booth 1448. In conjunction with the TX Matrix Plus, the T1600 is designed to scale up to 25 terabits per second (Tbps) of total capacity.

"With 'Big Science' projects like the Large Hadron Collider expected to be generating data flows of 100Gbps as soon as 2010, it's clear that the world's scientific research and education community needs to move beyond groups of 10Gbps waves and be ready with 100GbE solutions in the very near term," said Kanaiya Vasani, vice president of product management, High-End Systems Business Unit, Juniper Networks. "As trends such as cloud computing and video continue to drive network traffic in all other industry and consumer sectors, service providers and other large network operators will require a new generation of scale--100 Gigabit Ethernet meets this need."

Internet2, in partnership with Level 3, operates an advanced nationwide network serving the U.S. research and education community, designed to seamlessly add capacity as its members' needs evolve. Through a unique and deep partnership, ESnet shares control and operation of the Internet2 optical infrastructure. Both networks have already experienced rapid growth as global collaborations continue to expand to nearly every research discipline, making the path towards 100GbE a natural next step.

"Just a year after our partners agreed to the challenge of building a 100GbE interoperable prototype, we are very pleased by the progress made with our collaborators on the path toward 100 Gigabit Ethernet that doesn't just demonstrate optics or switching, but combines the two in to a working IP and MPLS backbone for advanced science," said Rob Vietzke, Internet2 executive director of Network Services. "Many researchers in our community are already pushing the limits of 10Gbps technology with sustained flows reaching over 9Gbps for an individual researcher's workstation. Internet2 is committed to delivering capabilities to our members to ensure that our network meets their scientific requirements today and provides the right platform to support their science innovations well into the future. 100GbE is part of that future."

"Level 3 continues to work with leaders in the industry to drive toward a commercially viable 100GbE service architecture," said Jack Waters, chief technology officer for Level 3. "100 Gigabit Ethernet offers the promise of superior economics with greater network performance and scale to support our customers as they face ongoing bandwidth demand growth."

Infinera has been a leader in the move to 100GbE for several years. Infinera's photonic integrated circuits (PICs) integrate 100Gbps of optical capacity on a pair of chips and Infinera's Bandwidth Virtualization architecture is designed to enable a wide range of services, including future 100GbE services, to be transported over today's optical infrastructure with speed and flexibility. At SC09, Infinera is demonstrating a pre-production 100 Gigabit Ethernet Module, designed to deliver 100GbE services in today's Infinera DTN. Infinera's next-generation PICs, designed with capacity of 400Gbps on a pair of chips, will enable significant increase in the capacity and scalability of optical networks.

"The research and education community is leading the industry in terms of applications that require large streams of data and highly scalable networks," commented Infinera Chief Technology Officer Drew Perkins. "With our digital architecture based on photonic integrated circuits, Infinera is uniquely positioned to deliver scalable, flexible, intelligent optical networks that can deliver and manage all that bandwidth easily and cost-effectively."

An Ixia test platform was used to generate and capture 100Gbps of test traffic. Ixia has been a leader in the development of 40Gbps and 100Gbps Ethernet standards, working closely with the IEEE 802.3ba task force. Ixia has been an active development partner, helping to bring Juniper's 100Gbps line card to market. Ixia's "K2" 100Gbps load module is used as a reference implementation to ensure that Juniper's interface conforms to industry standards and performs at line rate.

About 100 Gigabit Ethernet

100GbE is the next generation of Ethernet technology, and provides a 10x increase in scale over the 10GbE technologies most prevalent in today's networks. The higher speed is necessitated by growing network traffic, and will enable service providers and R&E networks to efficiently and cost-effectively support trends such as cloud computing, mega-data centers and data-intensive research projects. Internet2, for example, has seen data traffic on its network grow by 3,300% in ten years, and 100GbE will enable them to continue to meet the needs of its member community.

The IEEE is currently finalizing the 100GbE standard, with ratification targeted for mid-2010. The solutions demonstrated today are expected to be fully compliant with the standard when ratified.

About SC09

SC09, sponsored by ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) and the IEEE Computer Society, offers a complete technical education program and exhibition to showcase the many ways high performance computing, networking, storage and analysis lead to advances in scientific discovery, research, education and commerce. This premier international conference includes a globally attended technical program, workshops, tutorials, an exhibit area, demonstrations and hands-on learning. The SC conference series is among Tradeshow Week magazine's Top 200 events. For more information on SC09, please visit http://sc09.supercomputing.org/.

For More Information

Visitors to SC09 are encouraged to visit the Juniper booth 1448, where test equipment will produce a visual representation that confirms 100Gbps line-rate transmission.

Additional information regarding each of the companies involved can be found below:

ESnet: http://www.es.net, SC09 booth 723 Infinera: http://www.infinera.com, SC09 booth 1444 Internet2: http://www.internet2.edu, SC09 booth 1355 Ixia: http://www.ixia.com Level 3 Communications: http://www.level3.com

This news release contains numerous trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and/or registered service marks which are the property of their respective owners.

Juniper Networks forward-looking statement: This press release contains statements which may be considered forward-looking within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws, including statements relating to the expected future availability and benefits of Juniper Networks products. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual achievements to differ from those expressed or implied in this press release, including unforeseen delays or other risks associated with the product development and release process. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors is contained in the Risk Factors sections of Juniper Networks' Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. Juniper Networks assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release.

Level 3 forward-looking statement: Some of the statements made in this press release are forward looking in nature. These statements are based on management's current expectations or beliefs. These forward looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside Level 3's control, which could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. The most important factors that could prevent Level 3 from achieving its stated goals include, but are not limited to, the current uncertainty in the global financial markets and the global economy; disruptions in the financial markets that could affect Level 3's ability to obtain additional financing; as well as the company's ability to: successfully integrate acquisitions; increase the volume of traffic on the network; defend intellectual property and proprietary rights; develop effective business support systems; manage system and network failures or disruptions; develop new services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; attract and retain qualified management and other personnel; and meet all of the terms and conditions of debt obligations. Additional information concerning these and other important factors can be found within Level 3's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important factors. Level 3 is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Infinera forward-looking statement: This press release contains statements which may be considered forward-looking within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws, including statements relating to the expected future availability and benefits of Infinera products. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual achievements to differ from those expressed or implied in this press release, including unforeseen delays or other risks associated with the product development and release process. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Infinera's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. The risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include aggressive business tactics by our competitors, our dependence on a single product, our ability to protect our intellectual property, claims by others that we infringe their intellectual property, our manufacturing process is very complex, product performance problems we may encounter, our dependence on sole or limited source suppliers, our ability to respond to rapid technological changes, our ability to maintain effective internal controls, the ability of our contract manufacturers to perform as we expect, a new technology being developed that replaces the PIC as the dominant technology in optical networks, general political, economic and market conditions and events, including war, conflict or acts of terrorism; and other risks that may impact Infinera's business are set forth in our annual report Form 10-K, which was filed with the SEC on February 17, 2009, as well as subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements are based on information available to us as of the date hereof and we disclaim any obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE: Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks 
Greg Friedmann, 571-203-1723 
gfriedmann@juniper.net 
or 
Internet2 
Lauren Rotman, 202-331-5345 
lauren@internet2.edu 
or 
Infinera 
Deborah Porchivina, 415-272-0943 
deborah@papr.com 
or 
Ixia 
Kelly Maloit, 818-444-2957 
kmaloit@ixiacom.com 
or 
Level 3 
Debra Havins, 720-888-7466 
debra.havins@level3.com 
or 
Esnet 
Jon Bashor, 510-486-5849 
jbashor@lbl.gov

"It's not surprising that the converged data center has become the focus of networking advancements such as media rich content applications being offered to larger audiences of well connected wired and wireless consumers," said Atul Bhatnagar, President and CEO of Ixia. "Our data center testing initiatives provide the tools that network equipment manufacturers, service providers and enterprises can use to develop, qualify and verify converged solutions."

In addition to its participation with the EA, Ixia has collaborated with Arista Networks and Fulcrum Microsystems to test a high-throughput, ultra-low latency 10GBASE-T switch. Arista Networks will be showcasing its technology at booth #249. Fulcrum Microsystems solutions will be on display in booth #335.

Ixia's test solutions allow equipment manufacturers, data center operators and storage vendors to assess the functionality and performance of their Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE), Data Center Ethernet (DCE), Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), and Storage Area Network (SAN) devices.

To meet these rapidly growing needs, Ixia utilizes hardware and software components which apply and measure test traffic. Ixia's data center test solutions address:

-- CEE/DCE/FCoE -- The convergence of Local Area Network (LAN) and SAN traffic requires a multi-level testing approach, from the physical layer through FCoE protocols to lossless Ethernet. Ixia provides testing solutions for CEE/DCE, as well as FCoE. Testing of these technologies will be demonstrated with Cisco, Fulcrum and Mellanox.

-- SANs -- The explosion of storage capacity delivered over converged networks requires that large-scale emulation be applied to SAN components: CNAs, FCoE initiators/targets, and SAN switches/arrays. IxSAN(TM) tests performance and interoperability, without the need for costly large disk and tape farms. IxSAN will be used to test the performance of Dell and NetAPP SAN devices.

-- Virtualization -- Ixia's IxVM enables infrastructure performance benchmarking in virtualized data centers. IxVM leverages Ixia's industry proven technology to generate test traffic from within the server infrastructure, determining a data center's virtual infrastructure performance. IxVM will be used in conjunction with an advanced VM Server featuring QLogic converged network adapters (CNAs) -- measuring VM performance.

About Ixia

Ixia is a leading provider of converged IP performance test systems and service verification platforms for wireless and wired infrastructures and services. Ixia's test systems are used by network and telephony equipment manufacturers, semiconductor manufacturers, service providers, governments and enterprises to validate the performance and reliability of complex networks, devices and applications. Ixia's multiplay test systems address the growing need to test voice, video and data services and network capability under real-world conditions.

Ixia, IxSAN, IxVM and the Ixia four-petal logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Ixia. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE: Ixia

Vantage Communications for Ixia 
Jennifer Kutz 
Dir: 415-984-1970 x112 
jkutz@pr-vantage.com 
or 
Ixia 
Kelly Maloit, Director of Public Relations 
Dir: 818-444-2957 
kmaloit@ixiacom.com