SAN JOSE, Calif., September 6, 2000 - Continuing to execute on its strategy for end-to-end convergence, Cisco Systems, Inc., today announced that it is delivering additional IP telephony options on the Catalyst 4000 platform targeted at medium to large Enterprises campuses as well as branch office locations. These flexible solutions will enable IT professionals to deploy cost-effective converged networks that scale to meet today's e-business needs and provide investment protection for the future as IP telephony continues its move into the Enterprise.
"IP telephony is rapidly gaining momentum across the industry and customers are looking for ways to implement new applications and services cost effectively," said Jeremy Duke, principal at Synergy Research Group. "With Cisco's new IP telephony offerings, both existing and new customers will have a flexible, intelligent and consistent solution for their wiring closets and remote branch offices."
Enhancing Cisco's portfolio of convergence-enabled multilayer LAN switches are new Catalyst 4000 solutions that add the option of powering IP telephones directly from the switch as well as a new feature card that allows the 4000 family to act as a gateway to the Public Switched Telephony Network (PSTN). These include a 48-port 10/100 Ethernet switch card with Inline Power, an optional power supply for the 4006, an auxiliary power shelf for the 4006 and the Access Gateway Module. Also being announced today is the latest model of Cisco's Media Convergence Server, the Cisco MCS 7822.
Investment Protection and High Availability
With the continual evolution of Enterprise networks, customers need to evaluate not only their current needs but also what applications and services they will be requiring in the future. Applications like video on demand, e-commerce and IP telephony require a great deal of intelligence as well as special considerations for high availability.
The new Inline power products for the Catalyst 4000 announced today extends this capability to all wiring closets and branch offices while maintaining the investment protection of a modular architecture. Because the Catalyst 4000 uses a modular architecture, customers have a choice on how and when to deploy advanced features like IP telephony.
While the Catalyst 4003 supports all the same multiservice features as the Catalyst 4006, it relies on the Catalyst Inline Power Patch Panel to provide Inline Power. However, if customers want a fully integrated solution, the Catalyst 4006 can be enabled with new 10/100 switching modules and an auxiliary DC Power Shelf that provides 48 volts of power down the Ethernet cable using Cisco's Phone Discovery mechanism.
With Phone Discovery, the Catalyst switch automatically detects the presence of an IP telephone and supplies Inline Power. The Phone Discovery mechanism is intelligent enough to differentiate between an IP telephone and a host's Network Interface Card and thus, will not supply Inline Power to it or other device not designed to use Inline Power. This means that network administrators can maintain centralized control without the need to manually enable each port to supply Inline Power.
By deploying Inline Power 10/100BaseTX switching modules, the infrastructure is Inline Power ready and positioned for IP Phone deployment. Inline Power is enabled at the appropriate time with the addition of the Catalyst 4000 Auxiliary DC Power Shelf and the need for individual Uninterruptable Power Supplies (UPS) at each desk is eliminated.
To ensure reliable, fault-tolerant network operations, the Catalyst 4000 family supports redundant, load-sharing power supplies. The Catalyst 4003 and 4006 each use the same AC power supply unit which lowers the total cost of ownership, allowing compatible sparing and lower budget expenditures. Port redundancy is supported with spanning tree enhancements: UplinkFast and PortFast. Link redundancy is supported with Fast EtherChannel and Gigabit EtherChannel technology, ensuring that mission-critical links to routers, switches, and servers are available following a failure.
Intelligent Convergence
Also announced today is the Catalyst 4000 Access Gateway Module (AGM). This solution is a modular Cisco IOS engine that provides IP routing (WAN and Inter-VLAN), a voice gateway to the PSTN or legacy PBX and intelligent network services specifically for voice networks (Voice Network Services).
The WAN and Voice interface flexibility is provided through support for the Cisco 1750, 2600 and 3600 series WAN and Voice Interface Cards (WICs, VICs and VWICs). Additionally, analog interface options are supported in a wide FlexSlot while optional Digital Signal Processors and WAN encryption modules are supported on board.
As an IP router the Catalyst 4000 Access Gateway Module provides IP routing for Inter-VLAN communications and a gateway to the IP WAN. As a voice gateway to the PSTN or legacy PBX, the AGM provides voice packetization services for delivery to or from the IP network.
In addition to the intelligence and flexibility embedded in the AGM, the Catalyst 4000 also employs a number of QoS mechanisms. Catalyst modules provide extensive per-port queuing to guarantee that voice traffic is given highest priority. Dedicated voice queues can be configured such that QoS is maintained end-to-end through the switch and across the network.
Also announced today is a new Media Convergence Server, the Cisco MCS 7822. The MCS 7822 includes the latest hardware for a low-cost server platform in testing environments and smaller deployments where two redundant MCSs will be used. The Cisco CallManager 3.0 comes preinstalled on this platform.
Pricing and Availability
The new Inline Power enabled Catalyst 4006 48 port 10/100 cards will be available by the end of September, 2000 and will list for $5995. The Catalyst 4000 power entry module, auxiliary power shelf and power supplies will also be available by the end of September 2000 and will list for $995, $3995 (includes two power supplies) and $1795 respectively. The new Access Gateway Module starts at $7495 and will also be available at the end of September, 2000. The MCS 7822 is currently available and lists for $9995.
