Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, has launched the industry’s first agile network architecture technology and agile switch, the S12700. With a design that has been developed from a service and user experience perspective, the Huawei S12700 switch supports higher reliability and larger Ethernet frames. This innovative new technology features the key attributes required to support new industry trends including; cloud computing, bring your own device (BYOD), software-defined network (SDN), internet of things (IoT), and big data related analytics for business use.

By launching the first service and user experience centred agile network architecture, Huawei has introduced SDN architecture into campus networks for the first time. SDN is a new approach to networking which remove the physical limitations of networks. Unlike conventional network infrastructures, the SDN architecture is dynamic, manageable, cost-effective, and adaptable, making it ideal for the high-bandwidth, dynamic nature of today’s applications.

Huawei S12700 switch forms part of the industry’s most advanced series of agile switches, and is expected to lead a new revolution in Ethernet switching technology and network construction. Featuring automatic network deployment and management, the S12700 supports end-to-end (E2E) security collaboration with the flexibility for fast-changing services and full programmability enabling the world’s first 5th generation fully-programmable switching architecture.

To achieve full programmability while retaining advantages of excellent performance, low costs and low power consumption, , Huawei developed the world’s first high-speed programmable Ethernet Network Processor (ENP) chip within the S12700 switch. Its flexible packet processing and traffic control capabilities can meet current and future service requirements, helping build a highly scalable network.

Other world firsts for Huawei’s S12700 series of switches, include being:

  • The first core switch that provides T-bit AC capabilities which allow enterprises to build a wireless network without additional AC hardware, thus helping businesses cope with challenges in the high-speed wireless era.
  • The first with the capability to incorporate wireline and wireless networks seamlessly
  • The first with native broadband remote access server (BRAS) capabilities which authenticates both wired and wireless users, delivering the same user experience no matter they connect to the network through wired or wireless access devices.
  • The first switch with a range of level-2 to level-5 Quality of Service, (QoS), which allows for the management of users based on user groups, domains, and time ranges.
  • The first switch with 1 million native NetStream entries

In a fast-changing era with emerging technologies and trends such as cloud computing, big data, mobility, and Social Networking Service (SNS), the management of networks now faces three great challenges: insufficient service processing capability, fault location difficulties, and slow service responses. Leadership teams look forward to the availability of networks that can provide more agile services and flexibility to respond to changes in service requirements on demand.

“Campus network infrastructure is experiencing rapid evolution due to the dynamic nature of enterprise mobility and BYOD rollouts, cloud services and applications, real time multi-media and unified communication applications, as well as the need for a comprehensive approach to security across enterprise IT infrastructure. These innovation trends urge enterprises to enhance their abilities to support business and application needs. Huawei’s next generation network architecture is aligned with these trends, which along with its built-in programmable chip will enable enterprises to meet future network requirements through emerging networking architectures such as SDN,” said Rohit Mehra, Vice President, Network Infrastructure, IDC.

“As a leading global device vendor in the IP field, Huawei is committed to meet the needs of the Ethernet market by launching its groundbreak ing new agile network architecture and agile switches. This latest innovation from Huawei marks a significant step in Huawei’s efforts to bring more value to its customers and facilitate business transformation, changing the future of the industry.” Said Eman Liu, President of Huawei Enterprise Business for Eastern and Souther Africa.