Ixia (Nasdaq:XXIA), a leading, global provider of IP performance test systems, today announced the availability of the industry’s highest density and most affordable layer 2-7, 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE) IP testing solution for high-density next-generation data center infrastructure.

Leveraging Ixia’s converged testing applications, IxLoad and IxNetwork, Ixia’s new 10 GbE IxYukon load module offers the highest scalability, flexibility and affordability for testing.

This unprecedented solution for network and application testing provides four times the 10 GbE port density of Ixia’s nearest competitor. When used with the Ixia XM12 chassis, Ixia’s solution offers a greener alternative, requiring just one-quarter of the laboratory space, one-half the power consumption and lower heat generation. Based on Ixia’s new breakthrough 10 GbE IxYukon architecture, the IxYukon load module is the highest density, highest performance and the most eco-efficient solution presently available in the market.

According to a March 2007 Yankee Group white paper, “the data center has become one of the most strategic assets an organization has and a key focus of IT strategy” due to the rise in Internet traffic and networked applications. However, before enterprises purchase high-speed 10 GbE equipment for their data centers, they need to know how it will perform at scale, under realistic traffic loads.

“With this new introduction, Ixia’s strengths in providing a Green and highly scalable solution are the right focus areas for the next generation data center,” said Zeus Kerravala, senior vice president of Global Enterprise Research, Yankee Group. “This is a targeted solution for testing the scalability and performance of the next generation data center.”

The space, energy and cost savings available with the new 10 GbE IxYukon modules radically lower the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). As a result, enterprises and service providers can now afford to test their high-density 10 GbE infrastructures, and network equipment manufacturers are able to fully and cost-effectively test their next generation devices and applications at scale. Testing now can be performed with full port counts under full load.

Typical savings are:

• Space: Four times the 10 GbE port density in the same lab space. With the eight-port IxYukon, 96 10 GbE test ports fit in a standard 19-inch rack-mount Ixia XM12 chassis. The nearest competitor requires four fully loaded chassis to match Ixia’s 96-port, single chassis 10 GbE solution.
• Energy: One-half the electrical power. The nearest competitor requires at least double the power to operate an equivalent test bed of 96 ports of 10 GbE.
• Air conditioning: Less air conditioning is required to cool the test equipment.

“Our new 10 GbE IxYukon architecture and IxYukon load module are the latest proof points of Ixia’s technical leadership in testing next generation converged data centers while offering outstanding price, unsurpassed performance and extreme scalability in one chassis,” said Atul Bhatnagar, president and CEO of Ixia. “It sets a new industry benchmark for 10 GbE density and Green design. All of Ixia’s converged application testing solutions, including IxLoad and IxNetwork, are fully compatible with this new highest density 10 GbE IxYukon load module.”

Ethernet adoption is expanding into new applications in the data center, where 10 GbE switches and other devices are helping to improve network performance and lower TCO. To meet expanding requirements, network equipment manufacturers are offering equipment with non-blocking architectures, higher port densities, high redundancy and availability, with scalability up to thousands of 10 GbE ports.

To test their products effectively, the manufacturers need to scale their 10GbE test infrastructure in both port density and performance. Arastra, a manufacturer of high-density 10 GbE switches recently selected Ixia’s 10 GbE IxYukon load modules for their product testing.

“The Ixia 10 GbE IxYukon load module is the only solution that could accurately measure our sub-microsecond latency packet performance while meeting our high port density requirements,” said Anshul Sadana, Arastra’s director of Customer Services.

A live demonstration of Ixia’s high density 10 GbE IxYukon load module with the Arastra 7148SX 48-port switch will be showcased in Ixia booth #2011 at Interop Las Vegas 2008, as well as a 48-port packet forwarding and latency demonstration of Ixia’s 10 GbE IxYukon load module with Fulcrum’s “Reno” 24-port 10GbE datacenter reference design.

Ixia’s IxYukon 10 GbE load modules begin shipping at the end of Q2 2008.

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