Vendors Test Shortest Path Bridging

OTTAWA -- Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, Huawei, Solana Networks and Spirent Communications today announced that they have completed the industry's first large-scale, multi-vendor interoperability test leveraging IEEE 802.1aq Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) technology.

SPB allows customers to greatly simplify how they create and configure networks—across the enterprise and for the cloud— by requiring service provisioning only at the edge of the network. It uses Intermediate System To Intermediate System (IS-IS), a proven carrier-grade link state protocol, to dynamically build the topology between network nodes, saving network administrators time and effort, and virtually eliminating human error.

The interoperability test simulated a large network environment of almost 200 nodes and more than 400 links. It demonstrated full control plane interoperability between each vendor's equipment, native network discovery in a multi-vendor network and Layer 2 Virtual Private Network (L2VPN) interoperability. L2VPN connectivity was validated by passing real and simulated traffic between network connected devices and a network emulator. Avaya and Spirent also tested the Ethernet Connectivity Fault Management (IEEE 802.1ag) standard, showing successful Layer 2 operations.

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU)