Barcelona, Spain – 22 May, 2012.

Edge-Core Networks Corporation(www.edge-core.com), a professional networking solution provider offering a complete range of enterprise-level and service provider/carrier Ethernet networking equipment and services to partners around the world, today said new carrier-grade switches that support OAM (Operations, Administration and Maintenance), including ES3552MV2 and the phase 3 versions of ECS4610-26T and ECS4610-50T, joined Edge-Core’s stable of high performance, OAM-ready Carrier Access switches.

Multi-vendor support, the ability to support a variety of Ethernet switches in the core, is a key attribute as it allows carriers to use inexpensive switches to build their metro transport network. Edge-Core Networks, a Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) product certified member, offers solutions that meet this requirement, yet preserve Ethernet's simplicity and flexibility. For example, several of the current generation of Carrier Access switches, including ESS3510MA, ES3528-WDM, ES3528M, ECS3810-26T, ES3528MV2, ES3528MV2-DC, and ECS4810-12M have OAM built-in, allowing small, medium, and large service providers to effectively handle discovery, link monitoring, remote fault detection, and remote loopback.

Fault Management, Configuration Management, Accounting, Performance Management, and Security Management (FCAPS) are essential when establishing end-to-end Operations, Administration and Maintenance (OAM). The OAM protocols and mechanisms help operators achieve some of the FCAPS’ functionality. In fact, OAM capability is one of the key differentiators that make a network “carrier class” and therefore able to provide carrier-grade, Service Level Agreement (SLA)-backed services for demanding business applications.

“Edge-Core Networks understands many of today’s carriers and service providers require support for genuine end-to-end OAM as part of a successful implementation of FCAPS, added Edward Ting, Edge-Core’s president. “Many of our new Carrier Access switches support IEEE 802.1ag for connectivity fault management (CFM), IEEE 802.3ah for Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) tools, and ITU-T Y.1731 for fault management and performance monitoring, among other carrier Ethernet-related protocols. Because our switches have been designed to help service providers efficiently monitor and maintain carrier-grade Ethernet services over multi-vendor and multi-carrier networks, Edge-Core partners can reduce operational expenses ( OpEx) since customer cost-benefit ratios are maximized. ”

OAM helps service providers conduct more efficient network operations by giving them the ability to “see” from their network management centers through to the enterprise customer’s premises. The OAM capabilities defined in the IEEE 802.1ag, IEEE 802.3ah, ITU-T Y.1731 and the forthcoming ITU-T Y.156sam standards have been designed to help service providers efficiently monitor and maintain carrier-grade Ethernet services over multi-vendor and multi-carrier networks. When properly implemented at key points in the network, OAM provides robust connectivity fault management and performance monitoring capabilities for Ethernet services.

About Edge-Core Networks

Edge-Core Networks Corporation is a professional networking solution provider offering a complete range of enterprise-level and service provider/carrier Ethernet networking equipment and services to partners around the world. Headquartered in Hsinchu Science Park in northern Taiwan, Edge-Core was spun-off from the Accton Technology Group into an independent subsidiary in 2010. SMC Networks, a leading provider of LAN/connectivity devices, is a brand division of Edge-Core Networks focused on the SMB and SOHO market segments. Last year SMC Networks celebrated its 40th anniversary as a pioneer in the networking industry.