Santa Clara, California-based Hughes LAN Systems Inc is planning to use the Networld+Interop show in Las Vegas at the end of the month to demonstrate its second-generation workgroup Ethernet switch, the Model 1700. The new product, which Hughes says will cost less than $400 per port, is designed to offer improved performance and manageability. It will provide full line speed switching on up to 32 ports simultaneously, says Hughes, with interfaces for both 10Base-T and 100Base-T. In its base configuration, the product comes with 16 ports, four of which can be used for 100Base-T connections, while an optional expansion module doubles both the number of 10Base-T and 100Base-T ports. Data throughput of 700Mbps and a packet forwarding rate of 500Kbps are claimed for the 1700, while other features are promised to include filtering on source and destination addresses; a maximum of 2,048 learned addresses; support for port-level remote monitoring groups; and hardware-based packet capture. The product also has an integrated Simple Network Management Protocol agent, and can be managed via Hughes’ HP OpenView-based 20/20 Network Management System. The 1700 is due to ship in June, priced at $7,500 for the 16-port and $11,000 for the 32-port model.
