1. The Nortel Networks Passport 8600
series Ethernet Switch delivers a highly
available, operationally simplistic, and
intelligent network routing solution.
Harnessing the power of the Passport
8600 allows for exponential growth in
network bandwidth, increased network-
based revenue opportunities, and five
nines of reliability for the network
core. In addition, hardware-based wire
speed performance enables fast and
efficient traffic classification, policy
enforcement, and filtering. This perfor-
mance benefits time-sensitive applica-
tions such as video and voice, and
revenue-generating applications such as
Quality of Service (QoS) and personal-
ized content. The Passport 8600 series
Ethernet Switch delivers a robust, secure,
and intelligent solution that provides a
true competitive edge.
Key features and benefits
• High availability—A Passport 8600
Ethernet Switch with Split-MLT
improves reliability, redundancy,
and applications performance for
the entire network.
• Operational simplicity—Passport
8600 technologies like multimedia
filters reduce configuration time and
speed up network deployment and
fault finding.
• Superior intelligence—Integrated
Layer 4 thru Layer 7 forwarding
capabilities improve applications
performance by allowing you to
balance and direct requests to the
most effective resource.
• Lower cost of ownership—Hot
swappable components and full
network utilization are designed to
let you use what you pay for all the
time. The lean architecture of the
Passport 8600 decreases the number
of network components, further
reducing costs.
Passport 8600
The Ethernet Switch solution for increased network-based revenue opportunities
Product Bulletin
Nortel Networks
Extreme
Networks 6800
128 to 256 Gbps
– 768 (6808)*
– 1152 (6816)*
*Req. new F96ti
modules
– 96 (6808)
– 192 (6816)
– 96 Mpps (6808)
– 192 Mpps (6816)
– 96 Mpps (6808)
– 192 Mpps(6816)
Yes
No
Yes
No
Foundry Big Iron
8000
265 Gbps
168/360
120/232
96 million pps/ 178
million pps
96 million pps/ 178
million pps
No
No
No
No
Cisco Catalyst
6500
32 to 256 claimed
– 240 (5 I/O slots)
– 384 (8 I/O slots)
– 576 (12 I/O slots)
– 82 (5 I/O slots)
– 112 (8 I/O slots)
– 192 (11 I/O slots
– 15 to 90 million pps
claimed (Cat. 6506)
– 15 to 170 million pps
claimed (Cat. 6509)
– 170 million pps
claimed (Cat. 6513)
– 210 million pps
claimed on Cat. 6513
– 170 on Cat. 6509
– 90 claimed on
Cat. 6505
No
No
No
No
Passport 8600
512 Gbps
384 10/100Base-TX
ports
128
96 Mpps
96 Mpps
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes with SMLT
Feature
Backplane
switching capacity
Max port density
(copper)
Max port density
Gigabit SX
Layer 2
Forwarding Rate
Layer 3 Routing
Performance
Eight Hardware/
Software Queues
per I/O port
Protocol and
Priority
Application Aware
Policies
Load Sharing
Switch Fabric
Dual Homing
Support
Enterasys
X-Pedition
8000 16, 8600
32, or ER16 128 Gbps
8000: 56 10/100Base-TX
ports
8600: 120,
ER16: 480
8000: 14 1000Base-X
8600: 30,
ER16: 120
8000: 15 million pps
8600: 30 Mpps,
ER16: 70 Mpps
8000: 15 million pkts
per sec.
8600: 30 million pkts
per sec.
ER16: 70 million pkts
per sec
No
Yes
No
No
Table A. Key feature comparison

2. Key customer questions
• Performance—Do all your applica-
tions perform as they should, all
the time? Passport 8600 wire speed
filtering, routing, and forwarding
ensures all your information gets
delivered on time, no matter the
destination.
• Redundancy—Does protecting your
network against failure mean buying
two of everything and having one
sitting idle? Passport 8600 Split-MLT
delivers high availability without
unused bandwidth and complicated
VLAN setups.
• Failure—Your network is mission
critical, so how long does it take to
repair itself during failure? Passport
8600 technologies reduce fail-over
times to under a second, meaning
your users won’t know there has
been a failure unless you tell them.
Applications
• Wiring Closet—Passport 8600
delivers up to 384 10/100 ports (352
with 4 Gig ports) for edge connec-
tivity. Multiple VLANS and enhanced
QoS marking ensure traffic is
segmented and prioritized as needed.
• Network Center—Passport 8600,
delivering up to 128 Gig ports, is
ideal at the core of medium to large
or very large campus networks.
Forwarding up to 96 million packets
per second—while enforcing secu-
rity and QoS filters—guarantees
application delivery.
• Data Center—Integrated Alteon
L4-L7 capabilities increase options
for balancing and selecting resources,
while monitoring the health of local
and global services. When combined
with Alteon ISD technologies, the
integrated functions of SSL accelera-
tion, Denial of Service protection,
and accelerated firewalling are
enabled for the whole data center.
• MAN/WAN—ATM, SONET, and
Wave Division Multiplexing tech-
nologies extend the Passport 8600
capabilities out into the wide area.
Passport’s unique CWDM/Split-MLT
solution delivers up to 16 Gig on a
single fiber pair.
BPS
Passport 8600
L2-7
Web
Servers
Server
Farm
Firewall
IST
Figure 2. Network Center
Order number Description
Passport 8600 Chassis Options
DS1402001 Passport 8010 10 slot chassis
DS1402002 Passport 8006 6 slot chassis
DS1402003 Passport 8003 3 Slot Chassis
DS1402004 Passport 8010co 10 slot NEBS-3 chassis
Passport 8600 Power Supply Options
DS1405007 Passport 8004DC 850W DC Power Supply
DS1405?03 8003ACPS 100-240 VAC Power Supply (3 Slot)
DS1405?08 Passport 8004AC 850W 100-240 VAC Power Supply
Passport 8600 Switch Fabric Modules
DS1404025 Passport 8691SF Routing Switch Module CPU/Switch
Fabric module
Passport 8000 Routing Switch Modules
DS1404011 Passport 8616SXE Routing Switch Module. 16-port
1000BASE-SX Gigabit Ethernet interface module
DS1404024 Passport 8632TXE Routing Switch Module
32 10/100TX plus 2 GBIC interface module
DS1404035 Passport 8648TXE Routing Switch Module.
48 port autosensing 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX
DS1404036 Passport 8608SXE Routing Switch Module. 8 port
1000BASE-SX Gigabit Ethernet interface module
DS1404037 Passport 8624FXE Routing Switch Module.
24 port 100BASE-FX Ethernet Layer 3 switching
interface module
DS1404038 Passport 8608GBE Routing Switch Module.
8-port 1000 Base GBIC (GBICs sold separately)
DS1304008 Passport 8672 ATME 2 Slot MDA Baseboard.
Accepts 2 MDAs and supports OC-3, OC-12, and
DS-3 ports.
DS1404043 Passport 8683 POSE 3 Slot MDA Baseboard. Accepts
three MDAs and supports OC-3 or OC-12 ports.
DS1404044 Passport 8608GTE Routing Switch Module.
8 port 1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet interface module
DS1404045 Alteon WSM, 4p Gig SX/10/100BaseTX
(Layer 4-7 WebSwitching Module)
** The seventh character (?) of the AC Power Supply order number
MUST be replaced with the proper code to indicate desired product
nationalization: “A”–No power cord included. “B”–European “Schuko”
power cord common in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany,
The Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. “C”–Power cord commonly
used in the United Kingdom and Ireland. “D”–Power cord commonly
used in Japan. “E"–North American power cord. “F”–Australian
power cord, also commonly used in New Zealand and the People’s
Republic of China.
Table B. Passport 8600 Ethernet
Switch ordering Information
Network
Core
Desktop PCs
Server
MultiLink
Trunking
Passport 8600
Desktop PCs
Server
Figure 1. Wiring Closet
BPSBPSBPS
Passport 8600
L2-7
Nortel Networks is an industry leader and innovator focused on transforming how the world communicates
and exchanges information. The company is supplying its service provider and enterprise customers with
communications technology and infrastructure to enable value-added IP data, voice and multimedia services
spanning Metro Networks, Wireless Networks, and Optical Long Haul Networks. As a global company, Nortel Networks
does business in more than 150 countries. More information about Nortel Networks can be found on the web at:
www.nortelnetworks.com
For more information, contact your Nortel Networks representative, or
call 1-800-4 NORTEL or 1-800-466-7835 from anywhere in North America.
*Nortel Networks, the Nortel Networks logo, the globemark design, and OPTera are
trademarks of Nortel Networks. All other trademarks are the property of their owners
Copyright © 2002 Nortel Networks. All rights reserved. Information in this document is subject
to change without notice. Nortel Networks assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document.
11001.13/04-02