Description Users require routers that provide the greatest number of WAN interfaces and can produce the highest throughput from expensive WAN bandwidth. As more applications use multicast and Quality of Service (QoS) features, customers also want their investments to continue to perform into the future. Nortel Networks meets these requirements with the Backbone Node (BN) router family, consisting of the Backbone Link Node (BLN) and Backbone Concentrator Node (BCN). The Backbone Node router family is a key element of Nortel Networks Unified Networks strategy, which includes a broad range of end-to-end multiservice solutions. Unified Networks create greater value for customers worldwide by delivering integrated network solutions spanning data and telephony. Nortel Networks BLN and BCN routers deliver the performance required for the most demanding internetworks using Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, FDDI, ATM, and SNA backbones. The symmetric multiprocessor architecture, based on multiple routing engines and the 1 Gbps PPX, delivers the highest performance in the industry-up to 5 million pps of aggregate forwarding. The ATM Routing Engine provides exceptionally high-performance virtual network routing in ATM-based switched internetworking architectures, supporting up to 2, 000 simultaneously active virtual circuits and wire-speed SONET STS-3/STM-1 routing between virtual LANs. Nortel Networks BLN and BCN routers set the standard for network availability required for mission critical applications in multiprotocol environments. This high availability is delivered through the symmetric multiprocessor architecture, hardware redundancy options, fully distributed system software, and comprehensive fault management capabilities.
