Smaller Is Better For Networking Gear Vendors

LAS VEGAS -- Size does matter, according to builders of networking hardware. As in, smaller is better.

That's the message from both IBM and Adtran, which both announced products at this week's NetWorld + Interop show that integrate more networking functions into a smaller form factor. According to both companies, having less gear can mean more customers, especially in the small-business or branch office markets.

IBM was at the show demonstrating a Fibre Channel switch-on-a-blade jointly developed with Brocade that fits into IBM's blade server chassis. Adtran was showing its new NetVanta 5000, a line of access routers that support dual T3 circuits, and can integrate other networking functions, such as VPNs.

Better physical integration of networking gear, both companies said, has attracted new customers whose space, time and administration resources are limited.

"There's been a lot of interest from customers in the retail space," said Jeff Benck, vice president and business line executive for IBM's eServer BladeCenter group. Being able to add more networking functionality into a single chassis with a slide-in blade, he said, is "very compelling to a smaller firm, who may not have a technician who can spend three or four hours cabling a rack together."The Brocade product follows similar eServer blade add-ons that include a Cisco Gigabit Ethernet switch module announced earlier this year.

Adtran's new line of routers and switches is also attracting attention from retail customers, according to Robert Snyder, product marketing manager for Adtran's enterprise networks division.

"The reduced size of the equipment has opened some doors for us," said Snyder, whose company also introduced a line of lower-end Ethernet switches with integrated routing gear earlier this year. A typical retail store location, he said, still needs to send data back to headquarters, but it may not have a lot of room to host networking gear.

"Stores usually don't have a lot of space," Snyder said. "And now they need a server, a point-of-sale system, and networking equipment to connect them to headquarters."

Reduced physical size also means reductions in power requirements and heat outputs, also a concern to companies whose networking gear locations may be constrained, both companies said."If you can take 30 percent of the power out of a solution, that can really change the dynamic of how you set up a data center," IBM's Benck said.