NetCore switch melds IP and ATM

NetCore Systems is entering the market this week with the introduction of a large-scale switching platform that integrates asynchronous transfer mode switching with Internet protocol routing capabilities.

The Everest Integrated Switch targets carriers and Internet service providers that want to provide multiple levels of Internet services, particularly lucrative business-class services and virtual private network offerings that require carriers to guarantee performance.

"That requires a switch that's smart enough to sort the traffic out," said John Shaw, vice president of marketing at NetCore. "As information is coming into the network, it's entering a multilayer switch that does ATM routing and IP switching."

Everest's ability to identify IP service flows and map them onto ATM virtual circuits is crucial for meeting ATM's quality-of-service levels, Shaw added. Everest can be integrated into networks without upgrading switches and routers and without introducing new or proprietary protocols, he said (see figure).

One analyst noted that the non-proprietary standards on which the Everest switch is designed are critical for ensuring scalability, particularly as more ISPs use other carriers' ATM networks for their backbone trunking.

"They're using industry standards for the connection between the edge device they're building and anybody's ATM core network," said John Coons, director and principal analyst at Dataquest. "It doesn't smack of the proprietary nature of many of the other vendor proposals I've seen."

NetCore plans to begin beta trials of Everest this summer and make the product commercially available in November.