Cisco today took the dust sheets off some new high-end ethernet switching gear for data centres.

The Catalyst 6500 series gets a new 8-port 10 Gigabit ethernet module, doubling the number of ports. Cisco claims the mod the boosts local switching performance by 60 per cent while trimming 30 per cent off the cost per port.

Cisco's aiming the switch at data centre managers keen for server aggregation, LAN access uplink aggregation, and connectivity within its environmentally-controlled empire.

Despite recent diversification into TV-on-demand and security, ethernet gear remains Cisco's bread and butter.

The 8-port Catalyst starts at $37,500 and is available now from your friendly local Cisco hawker. ®

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