Hammerhead Systems :: News & Events

Hammerhead Systems Announces First Layer 2.5 Aggregation Solution to Accelerate Ethernet Services Transition Based on PseudoWires and Dry Martini

HSX 6000 Available for Aggregation, Interworking and Migration over any Infrastructure at a Fraction of the Cost and Complexity

Mountain View , CA – December 13, 2004 – Hammerhead Systems, Inc . today announced the industry’s first Layer 2.5 Aggregation Solution and the availability of the HSX 6000 to address service provider needs to accelerate the profitable delivery of Ethernet-based services for both consumer broadband and business services. Hammerhead’s HSX 6000 is in lab trials today for PseudoWire, Ethernet and Layer 2.5 aggregation applications.

The HSX 6000 Layer 2.5 Aggregation Switch minimizes the cost and complexity of extending IP services over any infrastructure using PseudoWire and Dry Martini technologies. Hammerhead’s Layer 2.5 strategy focuses on delivering the best of Layer 3 application awareness and the best of Layer 2 economics, operations and interworking for service providers as they migrate to MPLS.

“Every high-volume carrier service has historically depended on cost-effective aggregation for optimum economics and operations, and Hammerhead enables service providers to undertake the migration to MPLS with the lowest cost and complexity,” said Peter Savage, President and CEO of Hammerhead Systems.

“Hammerhead is unique in its ability to support the delivery of business and consumer services through a combination of Layer 2 and Layer 3 infrastructure. This is critical in a world where 3G wireless, broadband wireless, and common carrier wireline access are all based on Layer 2 technology and services are being created and delivered via IP at Layer 3,” said Tom Nolle , President and CEO of CIMI Corp. “The Hammerhead Layer 2.5 aggregation platform is literally a bridge between access and profit, and something the industry needs very badly.”

"Our research shows that proliferation of Ethernet access-based services will require service providers to adopt new, innovative approaches to aggregation," said Mark Bieberich, program manager, the Yankee Group. "With this announcement, we believe Hammerhead has anticipated an increasingly important market need."

Hammerhead’s HSX 6000 is the only product available today that can deliver industry-leading aggregation economics, the most scalable and broadest support for service interworking, and the only non-disruptive data revenue migration solution. The HSX 6000 has the industry’s lowest Total Cost of Ownership for edge aggregation, in part as a result of its unique architectural advantages that optimize its aggregation and grooming efficiency, such as Bandwidth Poolingand Service Agile Ports .

Aggregation
The HSX 6000 sets the bar for defining the ideal aggregation platform. The HSX 6000 is based on an Ethernet service architecture, with flexible support for native Gigabit Ethernet as well as Ethernet-over-SONET (both GFP and X.86). The HSX offers industry-leading Gigabit Ethernet interface density factoring in oversubscription that maximizes the number of service interfaces exposed to customer locations, while optimizing the utilization of trunk interfaces. The HSX 6000 excels in t hree key aggregation categories: 1) high-density fan-in of traffic, across a broad range of new and legacy service interfaces, media, and speeds; 2) efficient grooming and SLA Assurance across a broad range of applications and protocols; and 3) flexible trunking across the optimal backbone and control plane (MPLS or ATM).

Service Interworking
The HSX 6000’s service interworkingcapabilityaddresses the Service Providers’ need to introduce new Ethernet-based services, such as E-Line, to existing Frame Relay and ATM customers without cannibalizing ongoing revenue streams. Hammerhead’s service interworking capability is the most scalable in the industry, supporting over one million flows on a single switch, while offering the industry’s broadest range of Layer 2 interworking options in a bi-directional, any-to-any fashion.

Migration
From its inception, Hammerhead has focused on ensuring Service Providers can minimize enterprise customer churn as they migrate data service revenues by being first to market with critical innovations, such as support for Dual MPLS and ATM Control Planes in conjunction with Bridge and Roll. Bridge and Roll is a key operational tool that eliminates the problem of disruptions to customer traffic during the Service Provider’s migration to MPLS.

Unlike traditional routers and multi-service switches, Hammerhead's Layer 2.5 Aggregation platform brings together the best of Layer 3 application awareness and MPLS connectivity and the best of Layer 2 economics, operations, and interworking. While traditional routers excel at IP packet forwarding, application awareness, and processing of higher-order VPN services, this comes with a significantly higher cost and complexity and at the expense of incomplete support for legacy services and deterministic QoS guarantees. On the other hand, while Layer 2 multi-service switching platforms offer the necessary operational attributes of OAM and QoS, they fail to effectively support the broad array of Ethernet services and IP application awareness. Unlike traditional routers and multi-service switches, Hammerhead's Layer 2.5 strategy provides the most cost-effective and least complex avenue for service providers to reach their vision of Ethernet-based access infrastructure over a single MPLS-based IP core, while preserving their existing customers and revenue streams and without stranding their considerable investment in legacy assets.

Unlike customer located-equipment (CLE) using PseudoWire as an access medium, Hammerhead’s HSX 6000 was architected from day one with application awareness and a rich set of PseudoWire aggregation, grooming and operational features. PseudoWires provide the ability to emulate the full breadth of Data-Link and Transport Layer services across any core network and serve as the fundamental underpinnings of an effective transition of new and existing services over a converged core. Hammerhead is actively involved in driving the PseudoWire (PWE3) Dry Martini technical drafts through the IETF and will continue to announce innovations which leverage its architectural advantages. Dry Martini extends PseudoWires beyond MPLS to work across any infrastructure, including the vast installed base of SONET and ATM equipment.

As a key part of the Hammerhead solution, the Pegador Element Management System integrates comprehensive support for all FCAPS functions and the Pegador Provisioning Gateway enables seamless northbound insertion into carrier OSS ’s while providing provisioning interoperability with the installed base of element management systems.

About Hammerhead Systems
Hammerhead Systems, Inc. is the market leader in Aggregation, Interworking and Migration solutions to accelerate profitable delivery of new Ethernet and existing legacy services at a fraction of the cost and complexity. The HSX 6000, the first purpose-built Layer 2.5 Aggregation Switch using PseudoWire and Dry Martini technologies, and the Pegador Network Management System are both available today. Hammerhead has a strategic partnership with Fujitsu Network Communications in North America for distribution, joint marketing, product planning, and customer support and services. Hammerhead is located in Mountain View , California , is privately held, and has secured $43 million in funding from Foundation Capital, Mayfield, Enterprise Partners, Pequot Ventures and Lighthouse Capital. For more information about Hammerhead, visit www.hammerheadsystems.com.