New Open Automation Products from Force10 Networks Target Virtualized Data Centers to Boost Productivity and Lower Operational Costs

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Force10 Networks, Inc., a global technology leader that data center, service provider and enterprise customers rely on when the network is their business, today announced new functionality for its innovative network automation solutions designed to provide additional flexibility, availability and manageability as well as lower operational costs in today's data center environments. Force10's new SmartScripts™ software enhances network reliability and improves management by providing a scripting environment for Force10 switching platforms. Also, Force10 announced that its HyperLink™ software now supports automated VM/VLAN migration in VMware and Citrix environments to help ensure improved network connectivity and security.

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These follow the initial delivery of the Force10 Open Automation Framework products announced last March. The framework represents a series of tools that simplify and improve network device management and automate network switch provisioning. Also, Open Automation makes it possible for IT managers to automatically provision virtual machines (VMs) and virtual network resources using a single software tool.

"From our perspective, network automation solutions from Force10 represent a more flexible and ultimately cost-effective approach to automating data center environments," said Jeremy Stinson, vice president, network operations at myYearbook. "We value network virtualization solution providers who offer infrastructure choices that avoid vendor lock-in and provide their customers with the optimum, best-of-breed solution that fits their needs – not what the vendor supports."

"Virtualization solutions have successfully cut capital expenses within the data center by reducing the amount of servers and storage. However, this functionality has yet to be fully realized in the data center network," said Cindy Borovick, research vice president, Data Center Networks, IDC. "To their credit, Force10 Networks recognized that automation and an ecosystem of partners were needed to provide a virtualized data center and has started to deliver on its vision of delivering open, network automation solutions that should reduce the complexity by automating critical tasks, such as configuration management and VLAN migration."

"Virtualization has clearly taken hold in the enterprise data center as an approach to consolidate resources and keep costs in line," said Jon Oltsik, principal analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. "Without proprietary means, the Force10 Open Automation Framework is beginning to demonstrate its ability to successfully integrate server virtualization and network automation to deliver a truly dynamic stack within the data center."

Force10 SmartScripts Choreographs Network Infrastructure

SmartScripts improves the monitoring and management of network infrastructure and boosts productivity by providing a robust scripting capability that enables IT managers to run Perl and Python scripts on Force10 switches. With this functionality, customers may implement custom monitoring and management functions in the network switch, such as version control, alert notification and autonomous management of network devices. Support for Perl and Python scripting allows IT administrators to deploy new monitoring and management capabilities easier and faster.

Open Automation Framework Gets Support by Leading Virtualization Solution Providers

As part of its Open Automation Framework, Force10's HyperLink tool now supports VMware vSphere™ and Citrix XenServer® environments. HyperLink automates the VM and VLAN migration process so that when a VM is migrated, the associated VLAN is automatically provisioned to the new server. Without HyperLink, IT managers must manually provision VLANs, which could delay VM migration from minutes to days, depending on the size and complexity of a data center.

"Automating configuration management represents an important step toward transforming data center infrastructure into an automated, policy-driven network fabric," said Arpit Joshipura, chief marketing officer, Force10 Networks. "Working with our impressive ecosystem of partners, we have extended our position as a leading data center infrastructure provider by giving CIOs and their IT staffs some important tools needed to improve their responsiveness, efficiency and reliability while bringing costs under control."

About Force10 Networks

Force10 Networks is a global technology leader that data center, service provider and enterprise customers rely on when the network is their business. The company's high performance solutions are designed to deliver new economics by virtualizing and automating Ethernet networks. Force10's high density and resilient Ethernet switching and routing products increase network availability, agility and efficiency while reducing power and cooling costs. Force10 provides 24x7 service and support capabilities to its global customer base in more than 60 countries worldwide. For more information on Force10 Networks, please visit www.force10networks.com.

Force10 Networks, the Force10 Networks logo, Force10, E-Series, Traverse, and TraverseEdge are registered trademarks and ExaScale, S-Series, TeraScale, FTOS, JumpStart, HyperLink, SwitchLink and SmartScripts are trademarks of Force10 Networks, Inc. VMware and VMware vSphere are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. The use of the word "partner" or "partnership" does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company. Citrix® and XenServer® are trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. All other company names are trademarks of their respective holders.

SOURCE Force10 Networks, Inc.