CALABASAS, Calif. -- Alcatel (NYSE:ALA - News) today announced two new additions to its OmniSwitch family that again raise the standard in high-availability for enterprises requiring a non-stop multi-service infrastructure for real-time and mission-critical applications. These new switches are the Alcatel OmniSwitch 8000 series for the enterprise core and the Alcatel OmniSwitch 6000 series for the enterprise edge. Together with the OmniSwitch 7000 series, they provide a consistent set of carrier-class features from the core to the edge of the enterprise network. Alcatel's OmniSwitch 8000 series offers a true non-blocking 10 Gigabit architecture and is Alcatel's premier core switch. It is one of the industry's highest-density, highest-capacity platforms supporting up to 384 ports of Gigabit Ethernet in less than 40 inches of rack space. The OmniSwitch 8000 series has a 512 Gpbs fabric, 240 Mpps of throughput and up to 16 10-Gigabit Ethernet wire rate ports. Its carrier class features and unsurpassed level of wire rate services come at an attractive price point due to an innovative distributed architecture. Smart continuous switching, launched in June with the OmniSwitch 7000 series and now available with the OmniSwitch 8000 and 6000 series, distributes intelligent functions throughout network interface modules, rather than through a central engine, so there is no interruption of services or performance during the loss of a critical network element. This unique carrier-class feature is a necessity as enterprises deploy voice and video over IP and other real-time or mission-critical applications because network downtime can impact profitability, upset business partners, and create security issues. "Alcatel's OmniSwitch family enables non-stop network operation and simplifies network administration processes across the enterprise," said Eric Penisson, Alcatel Vice President of Network Infrastructure Product Marketing. "Alcatel is able to offer this new level of network predictability through a unified architecture that is designed to deliver the ideal multi-service infrastructure for mission-critical voice and data applications." Alcatel SA