The “pay-as-you-go” design can enable enterprise-scale networks to keep pace with advances in wireless technologies – such as 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6), IoT, and LTE – to accommodate continued multi-gigabit network growth.
Siva Valliappan, VP of wired products of Ruckus Networks, said: “The ever-increasing need for Wi-Fi connectivity is taxing network cores, but the solution to keeping up with the proliferation of devices and advances in wireless technology does not need to be complex or expensive. The Ruckus ICX 7850 switch simplifies multi-gigabit network upgrades and reduces the total cost for enterprises through its ability to scale quickly and linearly to address current and future network demands.”
The switch can scale up to 12 in a stack, which rivals the density of traditional chassis-based data centre and enterprise switches. The hitless stack failover, multi-chassis trunking, and in-service software upgrades reduce downtime significantly. The available SmartZone network controller enables configuration, monitoring, and troubleshooting for the entire Ruckus ICX switch portfolio and wireless access point network. This highly scalable approach is easier to manage with reduced power and cooling requirements and a lower total cost of ownership
Security and Encryption
In 2019, network security at a hardware level is vital, and this switch supports the latest security standards and encryption technologies. ICX switches have been deployed in the U.S. federal government for over two decades, and comply with federal certifications, including FIPS, Common Criteria, CSfC, and JITC. It also supports Media Access Control Security (MACsec), a Layer 2 security technology, based on symmetric cryptographic keys, to provide point-to-point security on Ethernet links between nodes.
Many organisations, particularly school districts with older, existing networks that have OM1 or OM2 fibre optic cables require Long Reach Multimode (LRM) optics to achieve the 10 Gbps connections needed for today’s bandwidth requirements. The ICX 7850 provides investment protection and an upgrade path for customers with older fibre infrastructure by providing support for LRM optics.
The switch is now available globally.