Allied Telesis Ships New Stacking Switches for Small and Mid-Sized Networks.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Allied Telesis, a global provider of secure Ethernet/IP access solutions and an industry leader in the deployment of IP Triple Play networks over copper and fiber infrastructures, today announced the launch of its new AT-8000S family of managed layer 2 fast Ethernet switches. Competitively priced and available as fixed configuration stackable switches with POE (Power over Ethernet) and non-POE versions, the AT-8000S family is ideally suited to the needs of small and mid-sized companies building data and IP voice networks.

The AT-8000S family will initially include five devices aimed at meeting specific market requirements:

AT-8000S/48: 48-port switch (list $1,105)

AT-8000S/24: 24-port switch (list $715)

AT-8000S/16: 16-port switch (list $575)

AT-8000S/24POE: 24-port switch (list $1,165) Power over Ethernet capability

AT-8000S/48POE: 48-port switch (list $1,995) Power over Ethernet capability

The AT-8000S series sets itself apart from other value switch families like Cisco's Express 500 series and HP's 2500 series with the inclusion of the industry's most prevalent command line interface, dedicated stacking interfaces, and in-depth stacking functionality such as port-trunking and mirroring that can span multiple switches in the stack. These differences make the AT-8000S series a more manageable and reliable switch family that is easier to integrate into existing network infrastructure for small and medium businesses.

"An Allied Telesis AT-8000S switch makes more business sense than an HP, 3Com or Cisco equivalent," says Dante Martin, product line manager for the AT-8000S family. "With more stack manageability, QoS and security features as standard and a very compelling price point, the AT-8000S is the switch to beat."

The AT-8000S supports IP voice and data networking QoS with 8 traffic priority types in 4 queues per port, with 802.1p for layer 2 networking and DSCP (Diffserv) for layer 3. It also features 802.1p to DSCP remarking, to prepare traffic ready for transport over the layer 3 portion of the network.

Edge network security is provided with RADIUS and 802.1x for authentication of users and accountability. The AT-8000S series provides support for MAC-based VLANs as well as a capability for setting up a "guest" VLAN to ensure visitors or unauthorized users can only connect to predefined services. For additional security the new devices include support for TACACS+ to make remote security administration easier and provide separate authentication, authorization and accounting services.

About Allied Telesis, Inc.

Founded in 1987, Allied Telesis is a member of the Allied Telesis Group, a global provider of secure Ethernet/IP access solutions and an industry leader in the deployment of IP Triple Play networks over copper and fiber infrastructure. Our POTS-to-10G iMAP integrated Multiservice Access Platform and iMG intelligent Multiservice Gateways, in conjunction with advanced switching, routing and WDM-based transport solutions, enable public and private network operators and service providers of all sizes to deploy scalable, carrier-grade networks for the cost-effective delivery of packet-based voice, video and data services.