Brocade aims 100GbE router at ISPs and datacentres

Brocade is taking pre-orders on its forthcoming terabit-trunk router, which the company describes as the "world's fastest".

The router is pitched at service providers and datacentre firms, and is designed to improve the smooth running of applications in virtualised networks while enhancing performance and scalability.

Brocade said that the 100Gb Ethernet MLXE router is competitively priced, and will help service providers prepare for the rising tide of rich media and video content.

Duncan Hughes, systems engineering manager at Brocade, told V3.co.uk that the capacity is perhaps a little too much for most enterprises "for now", but will help internet exchanges and ISPs serve high quality media at sufficient speeds to consumers and businesses.

"The demand is where the choke points on the network exist - where all the data passes through the exchanges," he explained.

Other customers could be organisations with a need for high-performance computing, such as research or finance.

Hughes suggested that the increased use of HTML5, and the new features in common browsers, make it important to serve internet users in the best way possible.

The Brocade MLXe router is based on IEEE standards, and is available now in 4-, 8-, 16- and 32-slot configurations starting at $22,245 (£14,275).

Perhaps more enterprise friendly is a second release of Brocade's Network Advisor management software, which promises an holistic view over storage area network and IP communications, as well as tools to ensure security, performance and uptime.