Bay Networks Inc has been consolidating its Token Ring switching strategy and in what looks like a stop-gap measure, is to resell the Speed Switch 100 from Mountain View, California-based Centillion Networks Inc. The product will be sold by Bay Networks both stand-alone and connected to the SynOptics System 5000 intelligent hub, while Bay Networks works on incorporating an Asynchronous Transfer Mode Switching fabric for local network switching into the hub as promised. Centillon switch takes a modular approach: it incorporates a 3.2Gbps Asynchronous Transfer Mode core fabric, into which can be plugged up to six switch modules, each providing non-blocking local switching capacity. Incorporating autonomous switching engines within the modules, says Centillion, frees up the Asynchronous Transfer Mode core for only cross-module traffic, while data travelling from port to port within a module is switched natively without using any of the core bandwidth. Also included is a separate 400Mbps management bus for inter-module control traffic, which is said to have built-in support for Simple Network Management Protocol and IBM LAN Network Manager. The product can be monitored through SpeedView, Centillion’s network management application, which is avai lable on Windows, or Unix via HP OpenView or IBM NetView for AIX. Although Centillion offers modules for Token Ring, Asynchronous Transfer Mode and Fibre Distributed Data Interface switching, Bay Networks is pushing the product only for Token Ring – although it is offering users the chance to add the Asynchronous Transfer Mode interface in the future to protect their investment. Each Token Ring supports four ring segments, providing support for 24 segments per switch. Additionally, Bay Networks plans to incorporate Token Ring switch management into its Optivity management system; no word on pricing.
