IETF 'Draft Swallow' Implementation Also Available
CHICAGO, GLOBALCOMM 2006, June 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Hammerhead Systems,
Inc., today announced the availability of Multi-Segment Pseudowires and
Pseudowire Switching functionality on the HSX 6000 Layer 2.5 Aggregation
Switch in response to specific tier 1 service provider customer
requirements. With the industry's first availability of these capabilities,
Hammerhead's customers have greater scalability, management simplicity, and
enhanced network security over incumbent offerings. Hammerhead's
implementation of Multi-Segment Pseudowires and Pseudowire Switching
elevates the technology from simple packet encapsulation into both a
carrier-deployable service and an important element in traffic engineering
and multi-provider networking applications. It has been demonstrated in
service provider trials and is available today.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060605/SFM081LOGO )
Hammerhead also announced its implementation of ATM PNNI to MPLS
Pseudowire interworking (draft Swallow) on the HSX 6000 Layer 2.5
Aggregation Switch to provide true service interworking between
next-generation MPLS networks and legacy ATM networks in a seamless,
standards-based solution.
"To the extent that fixed and mobile service providers look to
integrate legacy operations with the converged IP/MPLS core, Hammerhead's
ability to offer standards-based interworking between the MPLS and ATM
control planes on a single network element -- the HSX 6000 -- is a
capability our customers have found to be both operationally and
financially compelling," said Peter Savage, Hammerhead's President and CEO.
Hammerhead's implementation of the draft Swallow is available today.
In their efforts to converge all services onto a common IP network,
service providers have continued to push equipment vendors to provide
innovative cost-effective solutions for extending manageable service
relationships across IP networks and into metro and access networks. In
response, the IETF's PWE3 working group has addressed key issues that
facilitate the use of MPLS Pseudowires as the service construct for
encapsulation and mapping of a broad array of Layer 2 services over MPLS.
Service providers have asked equipment vendors to address the
interconnection of endpoints located on different access networks in a
scalable, secure and operationally tractable manner.
The IETF's draft for Multi-Segment Pseudowires allows a service
provider to extend Pseudowires across multiple domains and tunnels. With
the introduction of Pseudowire Switching, service providers can scale
connections in the access network without impacting the control plane,
avoiding the typical "n2" mesh connectivity problem in mapping connections
across a network. With Hammerhead's implementation of Multi-Segment
Pseudowires and Pseudowire Switching available today on the HSX 6000, the
company offers the industry's first production-ready solution.
Multi-Segment Pseudowires (MS-PW) also address inter-carrier
interconnections, a key area of concern for service providers. By extending
Pseudowires across service provider boundaries, Multi-Segment Pseudowires
help address confidentiality and security requirements, and provide
interworking between disparate tunneling technologies used in different
networks. Hammerhead's implementation supports static and dynamic placement
of Multi-Segment Pseudowires on the HSX 6000. Multi-Segment Pseudowires
work as two or more contiguous Pseudowire segments that function as a
single point-to-point virtual connection. In a MS-PW, the service provider
edge connection is dynamically created by signaling, and is not configured
by the end user. Multi-Segment Pseudowires can be routed across multiple
carrier networks or multiple domains in a single network, based on
business-based route metrics rather than on purely technical metrics, a key
requirement for common carriers in converged service applications.
In light of the recent wave of consolidation among service providers,
the interconnection of various networks and network domains is an important
element of streamlining operations. Pseudowires enable the mapping of Layer
2 attributes that are critical to SLA enforcement and deterministic QoS
guarantees to IP flows. This facilitates the aggregation of a variety of
incoming traffic from the access network to a single IP-based network core.
Hammerhead's solution elevates the technology from simple packet
encapsulation into a carrier-deployable service, particularly across
demarcation interfaces and in applications that demand explicit control of
the service path. These applications require call admission control (CAC)
and inter-carrier routing policy. The Hammerhead implementation optimizes
the number of targeted LDP sessions that are required. It enables service
providers to set up Pseudowires through multiple networks, using LDP and
Generic FEC within the control-plane.
"Hammerhead has been unique among equipment vendors for recognizing the
importance of networked pseudowires in creating converged services,
particularly across multiple provider hops," said Tom Nolle, president of
CIMI Corporation, a New Jersey consultancy. "These announcements are a
significant step in making pseudowires a tool in service creation and
management for new-generation IP networks."
In a second area of innovation leadership, Hammerhead's implementation
of PNNI-Pseudowire Interworking, consistent with the IETF draft Swallow,
enables service providers to migrate revenue-generating traffic resident on
legacy ATM networks to the MPLS core, and facilitates the introduction of
advanced Ethernet-based services to existing customers. Hammerhead is
delivering its standards-based implementation on a single network element,
the HSX 6000, consolidating functions that have historically required
separate switches and routers with proprietary implementations.
The service provider market has demonstrated significant demand for
Hammerhead's HSX 6000 platform. With its innovative architecture, including
Bandwidth Pooling (patent pending), 1:N Redundancy scheme, and technology
leadership in Pseudowires and QoS, Hammerhead offers service providers
flexible, innovative and cost-effective solutions to support their network
expansions, and to accelerate their deployment of Ethernet-based enhanced
services.
The HSX 6000 delivers a patent-pending Bandwidth Pooling architecture
to virtualize key switch resources and eliminate stranded capacity. Its
Service Agile Ports enable flexible software provisioning of any physical
port for a variety of services and data rates. The Service Interworking
Engine allows service providers to introduce new Ethernet-based services to
their existing Frame Relay and ATM customers. The HSX 6000 offers extensive
support for Ethernet (native GigE and EoS) as well as legacy services (FR,
ATM, PPP, HDLC, & POS). Its unique Dual Control Plane architecture gives
service providers the flexibility to commission a single edge platform
connected simultaneously to their MPLS & ATM networks, providing key
service interworking functions at the data plane as well as the control
plane.
Hammerhead is showcasing the HSX 6000 platform and Pegador SOA EMS in
Booth# 47026 with demonstrations highlighting Pseudowire and QoS
provisioning, Ethernet service delivery and operational ease of use.
About Hammerhead Systems
Hammerhead Systems, Inc. is the market leader in Aggregation,
Interworking, and Migration to accelerate profitable delivery of new
Ethernet and existing legacy services at a fraction of the cost and
complexity of other solutions. The HSX 6000, the first purpose-built Layer
2.5 Aggregation Switch, and the Pegador SOA Element Management System are
both available today. Hammerhead Systems has a strategic partnership with
Fujitsu Network Communications in North America for distribution, joint
marketing, product planning, and customer support and services. Hammerhead
is located in Mountain View, California, is privately held, and has raised
$80 million from Foundation Capital, Mayfield, Enterprise Partners, Pequot
Ventures, Silver Creek Ventures and Apex Venture Partners. For more
information about Hammerhead, visit http://www.hammerheadsystems.com.
NOTE: Hammerhead Systems, HSX 6000 and Pegador are trademarks of
Hammerhead Systems, Inc.
CONTACT:
Hammerhead Systems
Scott Gripenstraw
+1-408-777-9789
sgripenstraw@hammerheadsystems.com
SOURCE Hammerhead Systems, Inc.
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.hammerheadsystems.com/
Photo Notes:
NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060605/SFM081LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
CONTACT:
Scott Gripenstraw of Hammerhead Systems,
+1-408-777-9789, or sgripenstraw@hammerheadsystems.com
|
