Avaya has announced a line of stackable Ethernet switches, the ERS 5900 series, optimized for Avaya Fabric Connect software-defined networking (SDN). The gear is available via the company’s channel partners.
According to a recent global Avaya survey, 88 percent of respondents expect to put SDN into production at some point in the future, with the average timeline of approximately 1.6 years. Nearly 45 percent of respondents didn’t have a specific timeframe for deployment; however, 89 percent of C-level executives said that SDN deployment needs to be simple for them to consider adoption.
The Avaya SDN Fx architecture offers automation and programmability, to support the Internet of Everything. The Avaya ERS 5900 series takes another step toward full network automation by further extending Avaya Fabric Connect capabilities to the network edge.
As part of the drive to implement sustainable, environmentally-conscious business practices, the universal effort to save energy and improve efficiency across facilities is boosted by new opportunities enabled by SDN architectures and IoT. In a case study, Avaya said that it is collaborating with other companies on an intelligent lighting solution that eliminates the need for businesses to run expensive, separate high-voltage wiring and conduit for lighting. Instead, leveraging Ethernet cabling, Power over Ethernet and LED, lighting becomes one of the many ‘things’ on the network. Sensors in this solution will detect occupancy/vacancy and areas that need more or less lighting for a good user experience. Benefits include lower costs and energy utilization, much easier installation — simply plug and play with Avaya Fabric Connect — and greater visibility and control through detailed analytics capabilities.
“The clock is ticking for businesses that want a competitive edge through greater network agility,” said Alan Hase, vice president of unified access at Avaya Networking. “By some estimates, it’s expected that nearly 25 billion devices will be connected to the network in just four short years. That could mean massive complexity unless a company or organization has implemented a powerful, simplified SDN foundation such as the Avaya’s SDN Fx architecture. The ERS 5900 takes a major step towards delivering the simplicity and transitional ability needed as Unified Access for the Internet of Things moves into full force.”
