Extreme unveils 8900 series BlackDiamond blades

Extreme Networks is targeting the datacentre with its new BlackDiamond blades

Extreme Networks has taken the wraps off its next-generation BlackDiamond 8900 networking blades, which promise to increase the compute density and performance of datacentres.

The modules are designed for the BlackDiamond 8800 chassis, and can provide up to 582 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports in a single rack. The system will offer a blade-level hibernate mode that can reduce power draw to 30 per cent of that used when in full operation.

"With the introduction of the BlackDiamond 8900 series modules, Extreme Networks addresses the three most critical areas that customers are thinking about within the datacentre: performance, lower cost of ownership and flexibility in design," said Gary Newbold, regional director for Extreme Networks in the UK and Ireland.

"The BlackDiamond 8900 series modules meet these requirements by enabling dramatic scaling of the network, while keeping costs in check."

Growth in rich media services, remote access, virtualisation, unified communications, hosted services and cloud computing has put increasing demands on the network, and Newbold sees effective network management as core to the implementation of these technologies.

"These new technologies are creating issues around organisational boundaries within the enterprise," he added. "The network is the Switzerland of this environment, acting as a peaceful go-between and a central meeting place for all participants."

Furthermore, the trend towards more nimble, easy-to-manage cloud computing environments requires scalable networks that are easy to integrate and automate, as datacentres leverage existing network assets, according to Newbold.

The new BlackDiamond 8900 series modules upgrade the BlackDiamond 8800 platform with a 3.8TB switching fabric, and can be used in end-of-row and top-of-rack architectures.

Extreme said that the hibernation mode makes the 8900 series one of the most energy efficient switches available, and reduces power consumption by up to 70 per cent. The wake-up time is still less than a standard TCP refresh cycle, meaning that they can still react when traffic returns on the network.

The BlackDiamond 8900 series begins with three modules available this quarter. The BlackDiamond 8900-MSM128 will retail for $24,995 (£16,557), the BlackDiamond 8900-10G24X-c module costs $44,995 (£29,805) and the BlackDiamond 8900-G96T-c module is priced at $24,995 (£16,557).