Alcatel-Lucent is adding new connectivity options to the OmniSwitch 6900 top-of-rack switch. First announced in April 2011, the 6900 platform only had optical interfaces for 10 GbE before being expanded with 40 GbE networking modules. It now also offers copper-based 10GBaseT options.
Cliff Grossner, senior director of product marketing, explained to Enterprise Networking Planet that the copper-based OmniSwitch 6900 has the same chassis as the existing 6900. One differentiator is that the copper version is not set up with an optical transceiver. The other difference between the copper and optical versions is latency. Latency on the optical switch is rated at sub one second, while the copper version has latency rated at sub four seconds. Additionally, power consumption for the copper version of the switch is “a bit higher,” according to Grossner.
Read the full story at Enterprise Networking Planet:
Alcatel-Lucent Announces Copper Connectivity and SPB Interoperability
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.