Enterasys Blades Add Security, Policy Routing to Switches

Enterasys Networks this week unveiled new blades for its Matrix N-Series flow switches that feature improved routing and security capabilities.

The four new Diamond Distributed Forwarding Engines (DFEs), essentially new line cards, deliver high-density Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet aggregation. The blades' architecture guarantees that only authorized users access information resources and prevents intruders from taking advantage of vulnerabilities to tap into business assets. Additional security capabilities include the ability to safeguard the network from worms and other potentially harmful code and preventing the spread of malware by quarantining individual communications instead of simply isolating a virtual LAN port.Enterasys says the blades help the Matrix N-Series switches function as a policy gateway, supporting up to 2,000 authenticated users per chassis and guarding access to downstream devices, including third-party switches and wireless access points.

The new line cards, all available now, include a 10/100/1000 BaseT Gigabit Ethernet module for servers, a 12-port advanced QoS Backbone Gigabit Ethernet Mini-GBIC (SFP) module, a 2-port backbone 10-GbE module with a dual ZENPAC port, and an 18-port backbone GbE mini-GBIC (SFP) module with NEM (network expansion module) expansion slot.