Allied Telesis Firmware Upgrade for AT-9000 Series Increases Switch Efficiency

SAN JOSE, CA. August 24, 2010 - Allied Telesis, a global provider of secure IP/Ethernet switching solutions and an industry leader in the deployment of converged multi-play networks, announced today the AT-S100 v2.0 firmware upgrade for its range of AT-9000 series eco-friendly Gigabit Layer-2 switches. The upgrade yields, on average, six-percent lower-power consumption, enabling the switch to run cooler, reducing the need for air conditioning, and lowering utility bills.

Allied Telesis has achieved even higher-power efficiency with the AT-S100 v2.0 easily installed upgrade for the AT-9000/28 port switch. Maximum power consumption is reduced by 7.5 percent to 29.5 watts and regular power consumption is reduced by 6.1 percent to 27.7 watts.

"We are helping businesses reduce CAPEX costs and reduce carbon footprints - a step towards achieving the reductions outlined in the Kyoto agreement," said Dael Bartlett, product strategy and marketing director, Allied Telesis, Inc. "Making the AT-9000/28 switch more efficient and reliable is one milestone in our continued effort to help customers \u2018go green.'"

The AT-S100 v2.0 firmware improves security by adding IEEE 802.1x support, allowing the new switch to be installed in networks where IT managers employ user authentication, higher security is required, and software such as Microsoft Network Access Protection (NAP) or Symantec Network Access Control (SNAC) is deployed. This ensures stored personal and financial data is fully protected, complying with Data Protection Acts and SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance) legislation. The AT-S100 v2.0 delivers improved Access Control Lists (ACLs) to allow network managers to define lists of approved or denied devices that can connect to their networks. It also incorporates SSLv3 (Secure Sockets Layer v3) and SSHv3 (Secure Shell v3) enhanced security on the management port for the Web graphical user interface (GUI) and a Telnet interface. With the migration of phone systems from analog and digital systems to VoIP (Voice over IP), network infrastructures carrying voice traffic need support features and functions to ensure installation and a better user experience. The AT-S100 v2.0 features LLDP-MED (Link Layer Discovery Protocol - Media Endpoint Discovery) and voice VLANs (virtual local area networks) to ensure Quality of Service (QoS). Voice VLAN prioritizes voice traffic and LLDP-MED simplifies network set-up by automatically detecting when a VoIP phone is connected.

The enhanced switch also includes the sFlow specification mechanism that enables traffic monitoring on all ports, and reports this to an external sFlow collector application. With sFlow, network administrators gain improved network diagnostics, which aids in complex network management.

The AT-S100 v2.0 is available now.