Telecommunicatation switches and different Layer 2 WAN Technologies

[Zillah]

I just want to know in general, does a telecommunications switch can handle different layer 2 wan technologies (Frame Relay, ATM, ISDN--etc)? or it should be specified for specific technology only ?


Yes I know there are different modules and type of switches, but I am looking to know does it possible (practical) for a telecommunication switch to handle more than one tecnology ?

 

[KiscoKid]

Oh absolutely yes. All the main carrier switch manufacturers offer a multiservice platform capable of doign all the technologies you've outlined and all the other popular ones (DSL, SONET/SDH, VOIP, Ethernet).

Cisco offers the MGX, Alcatel offer the 7470, Juniper offer their M switches, Lucent offer the CBX 3500...

 

[netproj]

It is possible for the same switch to handle different types of WAN traffic I/O through using different I/O interfaces. However the switch might not be optimized for all types of layer 2 traffic. For example a router can forward ATM cells received on an ATM interface to another ATM interface on the same router, but it will not be as efficient as forwaring native IP. A similiar argument exists for an ATM switch forwarding Frame Relay traffic on its interfaces compared to ATM traffic.

It depneds on the switch internal switching/forwarding architecture, some telecom switches have an inherently optimized switchign fabric for a set of technologies.

Hope this helps..