Cabletron buys into router start-up
Augmenting its support for routing, the networking hardware player on Monday will announce an equity investment in start-up Yago Systems.
The technology Cabletron gains from a relationship with Yago lets the switch-centric company add the capability to push data traffic at gigabit speeds across large network backbones, the underlying pipes that connect several sites together. Switches that include routing technology are becoming more popular as a way to meld the intelligence of routers with the speed of switches.
Terms of the investment were not disclosed. Yago is developing a line of switch routers called the MSR 8000, a box that can handle data at speeds of up to 30 million packets per second. The hardware will be showcased at next month's Networld+Interop.
Cabletron had been criticized by some in the industry for not making a gigabit-speed play to boost the enterprise portion of its product line. The company, which has shipped a prestandard Gigabit Ethernet module for its switches since early in the year, is also expected to soon take the wraps off more gigabit-speed enhancements.
The Yago deal follows an April investment of $20 million by Cabletron in Ipsilon Networks, a start-up company that has made waves with a line of switches for IP (Internet Protocol)-based networks. How the latest investment affects the initial play by Cabletron is unclear.
In anticipation of Networld+Interop, a slew of start-ups and established companies are expected to hop on the gigabit router bandwagon. "They're all playing, they're all going in the same direction," said Craig Johnson, principal analyst with Current Analysis.