Alcatel-Lucent buries EDGE routers in x86 server fleet

Alcatel-Lucent is the latest firm to announce that it's turning its entire routing code base into a virtual router to run on x86 server platforms.

The VSR (Virtualized Service Router) is described by the company as a “suite of software applications” based on the company's non-stop routing code, and the company's planning a reveal starting now and continuing through 2015.

The company says it can now demonstrate 320Gbps half-duplex performance on a single x86 server running a virtualised Provider Edge routing platform, which as always means it's faster than an unnamed competitor platform and much faster than another competitor (as per this canned release).

Compatibility with the company's Service Router Operator System (SROS) and the 5620 Service Aware Manager (SAM) means the VSR can be deployed and managed from the same pane of glass as Alca-Lu hardware routers.

As well as the aforementioned PE router (available for demonstration with a commercial product in the first half of 2015), there's currently code for a route reflector (VSR-RR), and an IP-MPLS router simulator (VSR-SIM). These will be followed by a security gateway (VSR-SEGW, H1 2015), a wireless LAN gateway (VSR-WLGW, H2 2015) and a broadband network gateway (VSR-BNG, H2 2015). ®