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Ciena Delivers CoreDirector Ethernet Services Solution

Ethernet Services Line Module drives network convergence by improving economics, reliability and management of Ethernet services in optical networks

Ciena® Corporation (Nasdaq: CIEN), the network specialist, today announced an enhancement to its market-leading CoreDirector® multiservice switch to further simplify migration to packet-based services while reducing the cost and complexity of existing SONET/SDH networks. By integrating the new Ethernet Services Line Module (ESLM), CoreDirector now offers advanced Ethernet functionality that enables service providers to deliver high-margin, highly-reliable Ethernet services. With this solution, service providers can reduce network complexity and lower capital expenditure by more than 40 percent. 

An in-service upgrade for CoreDirector, the ESLM delivers 20 Gbps of advanced Layer 2 switching functionality, including support for Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), 10 Gigabit Ethernet, VLAN switching, Ethernet link aggregation and traffic management based on Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) standards. The enhancement also optimizes CoreDirector as a gateway switch for high-capacity aggregation and forwarding of both Ethernet and TDM services, eliminating the need for multiple Ethernet switches and Multiservice Provisioning Platforms (MSPPs).

CoreDirector also provides the ability to guarantee service levels in packet-friendly networks. The platform’s seamless integration with ON-Center®, Ciena's network and services management system, enables automated point-and-click Ethernet service provisioning and management with the ability to enforce granular service level agreements (SLAs).

“Operators are evolving their networks toward converged, packet-based architectures. Efficiently combining Ethernet with legacy TDM technologies is essential to lowering the cost and disruption of network migration,” said Ron Kline, Research Director for Optical Networks at Ovum-RHK. “Products that proficiently support advanced Ethernet services without negatively impacting operations will see the most success in the marketplace.”

“Service providers continue to look for migration solutions like Ciena’s FlexSelect Architecture that help them protect investments in existing infrastructure as they transition to Ethernet to accelerate time to revenue for new services,” said Steve Alexander, chief technology officer at Ciena. “With these expanded capabilities, CoreDirector delivers new benefits for Ethernet services, including new revenue streams for differentiated classes of Ethernet services, automated provisioning and management, and carrier-class reliability.”

About CoreDirector
CoreDirector is an element of Ciena’s FlexSelect™ Architecture, a standards-based, service-oriented approach to building next-generation network infrastructures made possible by flexible hardware and intelligent embedded software. The platform enables rapid end-to-end delivery of Ethernet and TDM services with flexible protection options, operational simplicity and lower cost of network operation. CoreDirector leads the market with more than 600 nodes deployed in over 25 customer networks worldwide, and is the industry’s only platform to combine advanced Layer 2 Ethernet functionality with field-proven six nines of reliability across an intelligent meshed network that can reduce capex by as much as 65 percent and opex by as much as 85 percent.