T H E TOLLY. Functionality Certification and Cooperative Interoperability Evaluation. Test Highlights. 10GbE LAN PHY support

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1 T H E TOLLY G R O U P No May 2007 Foundry Networks, Inc. FastIron Edge X424, FastIron SX 800, NetIron MLX and BigIron RX Test Summary Functionality Certification and Cooperative Interoperability Evaluation Premise: Network managers who deploy a variety of Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet and 10GbE switching devices in their networks need guaranteed interoperability of these switches in order to maintain a functional network. F oundry Networks, Inc. commissioned The Tolly Group to evaluate four of its enterpriseclass LAN switches for interoperability with other brand switches. Tolly Group engineers subjected the FastIron Edge X424, FastIron SX 800, NetIron MLX and BigIron RX to more than a dozen tests with switches from 3Com, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco Systems, Enterasys, Extreme Networks, Fujitsu, IBM Nortel, and Hewlett-Packard Co. Engineers subjected the Foundry switches to advanced LAN services tests, including support for autonegotiation, 802.1p/Q VLAN tag propagation, RIP v2, OSPF, BGP, Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP), Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) and Jumbo Frames. The Foundry switches achieved interoperability with other switches. Tests were conducted in March/April 2007 at Terremark Worldwide Inc. s world-class NAP of the Americas facility in Miami, a major Internet peering point for carriers and service providers. Test Highlights Earns 13 certifications for Layer 2 and Layer 3 advanced LAN functions Achieves broad Layer 2 and Layer 3 interoperability with 19 switches from nine vendors Interoperates with other devices tested when supporting 10- Gigabit Ethernet LAN PHY interface,802.1p/q VLAN tags, link aggregation, Multiple Spanning Tree, PIM-Sparse/Dense Mode Multicast, VRRP, OSPF and BGP4 protocols, and more Foundry Networks Switches Tested Partial List of Tolly Certifications Earned Certification 10GbE LAN PHY support 802.1p/Q VLAN Tag Propagation Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) PIM Sparse Mode -- IP Multicasting PIM Dense Mode -- IP Multicasting OSPF/BGP4 routing protocol support Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) Result Source: The Tolly Group, April 2007 Figure The Tolly Group Page 1

2 Executive Summary Foundry Networks switches demonstrated broad interoperability with 19 other switches for advanced LAN and routing functions at Layer 2 and Layer 3. In a world of everevolving standards and tight budgets, network managers searching for new equipment need to know that the switches they purchase are interoperable with their current infrastructure. It is important for managers to know which devices can maintain their interoperability with different standardized and nonstandardized functions. Engineers tested 23 switches from nine vendors to determine the various levels of interoperability offered. In Layer 2 interoperability tests, the four Foundry Networks switches tested the FastIron Edge X424, FastIron SX 800, NetIron MLX and BigIron RX consistently demonstrated interoperability with Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco Systems, Enterasys Networks, Extreme Networks, Fujitsu, IBM Nortel, and HP. (Both the IBM Nortel and HP switch modules were manufactured by Blade Network Technologies.) In Layer 3 interoperability tests, the Foundry switches achieved broad interoperability with a 3Com Switch 5500G-EI, two Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch models tested, a Cisco Catalyst 6509-E, as well as a pair of Extreme Networks switches. Layer 2 Functions Auto-negotiation The Foundry switches interoperated with all of the switches tested. This feature was not tested on the 10GbEonly ports of the Fujitsu and IBM Nortel switches. Devices earning this certification have demonstrated the ability to establish the highest available speed and duplex settings in all vendor combinations. See Figures 1 and 2. L ayer 2 Tolly Interoperability C ertifications Awarded to F oundry Networks F as tiron E dge X424, F as tiron S X 800, NetIron ML X and B igiron R X S witches Certification 3Com Switch Port 3Com Switch Port 3Com Switch 5500G-EI PWR 48-Port Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch 6850-P24X Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch 9800 Cisco Catalyst 6509-E Enterasys SecureStack A2H Enterasys SecureStack B3G Enterasys SecureStack C3G Enterasys Matrix N1-DFE Enterasys Matrix X4 Secure Core Router Extreme Summit X450a-24t Extreme BlackDiamond 8806 Foundry FastIron Edge X424 Premium Foundry FastIron SX 800 Foundry NetIron MLX Foundry BigIron RX Fujitsu XG700 Fujitsu XG2000 IBM/Nortel Layer 2-3 GbE Switch Module IBM/Nortel Layer 10Gb Ethernet Switch Module IBM/Nortel Layer 10Gb Uplink Ethernet Switch Module HP GbE2c L2/3 Ethernet Blade Switch for HP c-class BladeSystem = PASS 10/100/1000 Auto-Negotiation = Feature not supported 802.1p/Q VLAN Tag Propagation Jumbo Frame support 10-GbE LAN PHY support S ource: The Tolly Group, April 2007 Figure 2 Link aggregation Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol support Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol support NOTES 1.) 10-GbE switch does not support auto-negotiation 2.) Does not offer 10-GbE uplink ports 2007 The Tolly Group Page 2

3 Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (802.1W) Devices earning this certification have demonstrated the ability to detect a failure of the Layer 2 Spanning Tree via the Rapid Spanning Tree protocol and to establish a new Layer 2 "tree." In networks where multiple data paths exist, this approach provides a quicker re-establishment of traffic paths and dramatically reduces user downtime when compared with the recovery mechanism of traditional 802.1D Spanning Tree bridges/switches. The Foundry switches tested demonstrated interoperability with all Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Enterasys, Extreme Networks, Fujitsu, IBM Nortel, and HP. See Figures 1 and 2. Jumbo Frame Support The Foundry switches interoperated with every switch tested. Devices earning this certification have demonstrated the ability to transmit Jumbo Frames (9K bytes) across all possible vendor switch combinations. See Figures 1 and 2. Foundry switches tested have the ability to transmit data between multiple vendors 10GbE interfaces. In this test, the Foundry switches successfully interoperated with almost all of the switches, except for four Enterasys models, an IBM Nortel 10Gb Uplink Ethernet Switch Module, and the HP GbE2c L2/3 Ethernet Blade Switch tested, since those devices do not offer the 10GbE support. Link Aggregation 802.3ad This test verifies a device's ability to trunk ports across multiple vendor combinations using LACP. For this Layer 2 test, all four of the Foundry switches achieved interoperability with all 19 other participating switches. Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol Support This verifies that the Foundry switches tested implement multiple Spanning Tree instances on a switch port to selectively allow or block multiple VLANs, without blocking the entire traffic traversing the port. Layer 3 Functions RIP v2 Routing Protocol Support Foundry Networks, Inc. FastIron Edge X424 FastIron SX 800 NetIron MLX BigIron RX Layer 2/3 Interoperability Product Specifications Vendor-supplied information not necessarily verified by The Tolly Group Foundry Networks FastIron Edge X424, FastIron SX 800, NetIron MLX and BigIron RX FastIron Edge X424: 20-port 10/100/ 1000, four-port Combo Ethernet, and field upgradeable to include a 1-port or 2-port 10GbE expansion module that supports SR, LR, and ER XFP optics. Software upgradeable to run full Layer 3. FastIron SX 800: 192-ports of 100/ 1000, 20-ports of 10GbE, redundant management modules, switch fabric redundancy, 512MB of memory, and support for legacy and standard IEEE 802.3af VoIP solutions. NetIron MLX: 4-,8-,16,-32-slot scalable IPv4/IPv6/MPLS/VRF enabled routers. Advanced Ethernet Layer 2 services. Port densities up to GbE/640 GbE ports per system. Dual stack IPv4/ IPv6 routing in hardware for unicast and multicast. Scalable MPLS-based services leveraging MPLS TE, VLL, VPLS, and Layer 3 VPN. Supports MEF 9 and MEF 14 compliant Carrier Ethernet services. Redundant management modules, switch fabrics, power supplies, fans, hitless failover, and hitless software upgrades. Carrier-grade Quality of Service. BigIron RX: 4-,8-,16,-32-slot scalable Layer2/Layer 3 switches. Port densities up to 128 non-blocking 10GbE ports or 1,536 GbE ports per system. Dual stack IPv4/IPv6 routing in hardware for unicast and multicast. Redundant management modules, switch fabrics, power supplies, fans, hitless Layer 2/Layer 3 failover, and hitless Layer 2 software upgrades. Extensive network security. This test verifies that the switches exchange IPv4 routing table information via the RIP v2 protocol. The Foundry switches interoperated with For more information contact: Foundry Networks, Inc. 10GbE LAN PHY Alcatel Great America Parkway SUPPORT Lucent, Cisco, Enterasys, Extreme Networks, IBM Nortel, info@foundrynet.com Santa Clara, CA Tel: , Toll free: 888.TURBOLAN This verifies that the and HP The Tolly Group Page 3

4 OSPF Support Tolly Group engineers verified that the Foundry switches exchanged routing table information via OSPF with other brand switches. Tests show that the four Foundry switches share OSPF routing table data with participating switches from Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Extreme Networks, IBM Nortel, and HP. (See Figure 3.) Alcatel-Lucent, Enterasys, Extreme Networks, IBM Nortel, and HP. IP Multicasting -- PIM Dense Mode Devices earning this certification have demonstrated the ability to provide IP Multicasting services using the PIM DM protocol. This verifies a device's ability to host and join IP multicast groups via PIM DM in a multivendor network. The four Foundry switches demonstrated interoperability with Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco and Extreme Networks. IP Multicasting -- PIM Sparse Mode Devices earning this certification have demonstrated the ability to provide IP Multicasting services using the PIM SM BGP4 Support Devices earning this certification have demonstrated the ability to share routing information via BGP4 with all possible vendor combinations. For this test, the Foundry switches interoperated with devices from 3Com, Alcatel-Lucent, Enterasys, Extreme Networks, IBM Nortel, and HP. VRRP Support Devices earning this certification have demonstrated interoperability using VRRP in both Master and Back-up configurations with all possible vendor combinations. This verifies a device's ability to act as a standby router in the event of failure using VRRP standards in a multi-vendor network. For this test, the Foundry devices tested achieved interoperability using VRRP with participating L ayer 3 Tolly Interoperability C ertifications Awarded to Foundry Networks Fas tiron E dge X424, Fas tiron S X800, NetIron ML X and B igiron R X S witches Certification 3Com Switch Port 3Com Switch Port 3Com Switch 5500G-EI PWR 48-Port Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch 6850-P24X Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch 9800 Cisco Catalyst 6509-E Enterasys SecureStack A2H Enterasys SecureStack B3G Enterasys SecureStack C3G Enterasys Matrix N1-DFE Enterasys Matrix X4 Secure Core Router Extreme Summit X450a-24t Extreme BlackDiamond 8806 Foundry FastIron Edge X424 Premium Foundry FastIron SX 800 Foundry NetIron MLX Foundry BigIron RX Fujitsu XG700 Fujitsu XG2000 IBM Nortel Layer 2-3 GbE Switch Module IBM Nortel Layer 10Gb Ethernet Switch Module IBM Nortel Layer 10Gb Uplink Ethernet Switch Module HP GbE2c L2/3 Ethernet Blade Switch for HP c-class BladeSystem = PASS = Feature not supported S ource: The Tolly G roup, April R IP v2 BGP4 OS P F Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) PIM Dense Mode IP Multicasting PIM Sparse Mode IP Multicasting Figure The Tolly Group Page 4

5 protocol. This verifies a device's ability to update the multicast routing table and to deliver multicast packets to the appropriate subscribers via PIM SM in a multivendor network. For this test, the four Foundry switches demonstrated interoperability using PIM-SM with Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Enterasys and Extreme Networks. Test Setup and Methodology Tolly Group engineers tested four Foundry Networks switch models the FastIron Edge X424 Premium, the FastIron SX 800, the NetIron MLX and the BigIron RX. Full details on the software versions of the Foundry switches tested, and info on the other 19 switches can be found in Figure 4 below. Details on the methodology used for each of the tests can be located on The Tolly Group s Web site at Terremark Worldwide provided valuable facilities and logistics support for the Switch Interoperability Study Terremark s NAP of the Americas facility in Miami, FL hosted the testing, and provided stateof-the-art power provisioning, management and cooling that were critical to a test of this scale. The Siemon Company provided custom length, reliable, high quality patch cables for the testing 10G Augmented Cat 6 Shielded patch cables, and XGLO Singlemode Fiber Optic Cables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he Tolly Group Page 5

6 Test Bed Source: The Tolly Group, April 2007 Figure 5 The Tolly Group is a leading global provider of thirdparty validation services for vendors of IT products, components and services. The company is based in Boca Raton, FL and can be reached at sales@tolly.com or (561) Test Equipment Summary The Tolly Group gratefully acknowledges the providers of test equipment used in this project. Vendor Product Web Spirent Communications SmartFlow 5.5, SmartWindow 9.0, SmartBits 6000C, Smart- Metrics 10G Ethernet module XFP-3730A, SmartMetrics XD module LAN-3324A Terms of Usage USE THIS DOCUMENT ONLY IF YOU AGREE TO THE TERMS LISTED HEREIN. This document is provided, free-of-charge, to help you understand whether a given product, technology or service merits additional investigation for your particular needs. Any decision to purchase must be based on your own assessment of suitability. This evaluation was focused on illustrating specific features and/or performance of the product(s) and was conducted under controlled, laboratory conditions and certain tests may have been tailored to reflect performance under ideal conditions; performance may vary under real-world conditions. Users should run tests based on their own real-world scenarios to validate performance for their own networks. Commercially reasonable efforts were made to ensure the accuracy of the data contained herein but errors and/or oversights can occur. In no event shall The Tolly Group be liable for damages of any kind including direct, indirect, special, incidental and consequential damages which may result from the use of information contained in this document The test/audit documented herein may also rely on various test tools the accuracy of which is beyond our control. Furthermore, the document relies on certain representations by the sponsor that are beyond our control to verify. Among these is that the software/hardware tested is production or production track and is, or will be, available in equivalent or better form to commercial customers. When foreign translations exist, the English document is considered authoritative. To assure accuracy, only use documents downloaded directly from The Tolly Group s Web site. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners gpvoesz-cdb-30May The Tolly Group Page 6