Extreme Networks has announced that it’s BlackDiamond 20808 and Summit X650 metro core and aggregation switches have passed the Metro Ethernet Forum’s (News - Alert) (MEF) service conformance tests.

 

The MEF is a global industry alliance comprising of over 150 organizations including telecommunications service providers, cable MSOs, network equipment/software manufacturers, semiconductors vendors and testing organizations.

 

The organization develops Carrier Ethernet technical specifications and implementation agreements to promote interoperability and deployment of Carrier Ethernet worldwide.

MEF service conformance is a crucial capability for service providers migrating from 1 Gigabit to 10 Gigabit Ethernet architectures to support increasing bandwidth demand.

 

“MEF certification is clearly important to our service provider customers as the industry moves towards a common understanding for Ethernet service definitions,” said Peter Lunk, senior director of service provider marketing at Extreme Networks (News - Alert).

 

He said that these additional MEF certifications for the high density 10GE product lines demonstrate the company’s continued commitment to support the customers with innovative, standards-based switching platforms.

 

The BlackDiamond 20800 series switches reduces the number of network elements that must be installed and maintained, while Summit X650 provides high density 10 Gigabit Ethernet in a compact 1RU form factor.

 

The breadth of the 10GE product line and features, maximizing the utilization of network capacity, simplify MEF certified next-generation network deployments, said company officials.

 

MEF 9 and MEF 14 are service-oriented test specifications. Both are defined from the subscriber’s point of view as the user network interface (UNI), where the subscriber and service provider areas of responsibility meet.

 

MEF 9 compliance tests include service attributes such as multiplexing, bundling and VLAN setup, while MEF 14 defines the test suite for Ethernet traffic management, ensuring quality of service per service class across an Ethernet business service offering.

 

Independent lab Iometrix (News - Alert), a test firm, performed the MEF’s conformance testing. It certified that the Extreme Networks BlackDiamond 20808 and Summit X650 switching platforms deliver carrier grade services as defined in both MEF specifications.

 

Extreme Networks provides converged Ethernet networks that support data, voice and video for enterprises and service providers.

 

Earlier this moth, the company elevated Altura Communication (News - Alert) Solutions to a National Partner status due to the commitment and momentum the company demonstrated since originally joining the Extreme Networks North American Channel program.