Procket comes out of hiding

For a sector that has been declared dead (or at least very, very mature with Cisco entrenched as the permanent leader) by more than one analyst, the core router market is suddenly getting more crowded. On the same day that Caspian Networks unveiled its first product (http://telephonyonline.com/ar/telecom_caspian_refines_qos/index.htm), Procket Networks finally came out of stealth mode to reveal its routers that will start out in the network core.

The three routers in the PRO/8800 series initially are targeted at core applications but likely will migrate to the edge as traffic demand increases, said Randall Kruep, CEO of Procket.

What makes the company different, and able to compete with the likes of Cisco and Juniper, is that it built its software in a more modular fashion. Juniper, where founder and chief scientist Tony Li went after his notable days at Cisco, took a half step by separating some of the functions within the router software. Cisco, where most of Procket’s management team has spent some time, is still relying on its IOS software as the basis of most of its routers, Kruep said.

“There have been a lot of cooks in that kitchen that have touched that software,” he said.

Procket’s software, meanwhile, lets carriers only support the protocols they want for their specific services. From an operational perspective, the company is touting its ability to do in-service upgrades. Just as important, the company built its own chip set, taking the knowledge from both the computing world and the ASIC-based environment to develop a programmable processor that cuts acquisition costs 30%-60%.

“This gives us a lifespan of about five to seven years, which is very important to the carriers,” said Kruep.