When I first heard Adtran had an Ethernet switch, I thought I had misunderstood. I've used Adtran CSU/DSUs for more than 10 years and have always equated the company's products with the WAN side of the router. Not anymore.
Adtran quietly got into the LAN market back in December when it began selling NetVanta 1224, a 24-port 10/100 Ethernet switch. Not satisfied with selling on both sides of the router, Adtran designed an all-in-one box: the NetVanta 1224R. That was just the beginning. The company upgraded the 1224 and 1224R to include Gigabit Ethernet, and the 1224ST and 1224STR were born. Adtran sent me a 1224STR to prove it could extend from the WAN to the LAN. After running extensive tests on it in my lab in Dallas, I'm a believer.
The 1224STR is designed to compete with the likes of the Cisco Catalyst 2950T. But Adtran has put much more in its 1U box than most. The 1224STR includes 24 10/100 Ethernet ports and a 1000Base-T port. For those moving away from copper for uplinks, Adtran has included a mini-GBIC port that can be used for fiber connections instead of the 1000Base-T.
On the back of the unit, the 1224STR's differences are made clear. There you'll find the power connector, the console port and a WIC (WAN interface card) with three ports--DS-1, DSX and DBU connectors--that should address most small-office needs. The DS-1 can be configured for PPP or frame relay. On a fractional connection, DS-0s not specified for data can be passed to the DSX port to be used by TDM or other equipment connected to the unit. The DBU port adds redundant WAN connectivity by providing for ISDN or analog modem dial-backup.
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