SAN JOSE, Calif. - December 17, 1997 - Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced four integrated, high-performance interfaces for the Cisco 7500 and 7200 series routers. The new packet-over-E3/T3 (POET) interfaces enable service providers and enterprise customers to scale to large numbers of leased-line connections while increasing network manageability and decreasing rack space requirements. The new POET interfaces are also interoperable with products from leading data service unit (DSU) vendors ADC Kentrox, Digital Link and Larscom.
"Today's growth in business T3/E3 connections is higher than all other leased-line connections," said Rob Quiros, product manager in Cisco Systems' Service Provider Line of Business. "Cisco is helping customers keep up with this growth by introducing a new line of products for T3 and E3 connections that increase port density, simplify provisioning and management, and lower the cost of supporting high-speed, leased-line connections."
Cost-Effective
POET interfaces support direct termination of T3/E3 connections by integrating the DSU into the router. Compared with solutions based on high-speed serial interface (HSSI) ports and external DSUs, the integrated POET interfaces enable service providers to cut rack space in half for high-speed connections. Enterprise customers will also realize significant rack space savings for T3/E3 router connections.
The POET interfaces reduce equipment costs associated with purchasing and managing separate network devices and protect customers' investments in existing DSUs. The integrated management features of the onboard DSUs reduce the cost of provisioning and managing customer and remote site connections.
"We chose the Cisco 7500 series router and packet over E3 interfaces for our backbone connectivity because of the savings in rack space and integrated manageability the system affords our network," said Judith Blair, technology director, UUNET UK Ltd. "The single platform provides us with multiple functions that previously required separate devices."
Interoperability
Cisco's POET interfaces interoperate with products from industry-leading DSU vendors ADC Kentrox, Digital Link and Larscom. This interoperability includes support for each vendor's sub-rate modes, enabling service providers to offer fractional-rate T3/E3 services with POET and a remote DSU.
As the latest addition to Cisco's expanding dedicated access product family, the new POET interfaces provide high-performance trunking and remote site connectivity at high speeds for data center and service provider POP applications. For branch locations and DS-3 backbone POPs, the Cisco 7200 provides cost-effective trunking at DS-3 and E3 rates.
The new POET interfaces include one- and two-port T3 and E3 port adapters with integrated DSUs. These adapters allow up to four T3/E3 connections per slot on a Cisco 7500 series router and up to six T3/E3 connections on a Cisco 7200 series router.
Additionally, Cisco introduced a channelized DS-3 interface for use with the Cisco 7200 multifunction router, bringing high-density T1 connectivity to regional enterprise and service provider customers.
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