SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Extreme Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXTR) today announced several initiatives that broaden its portfolio of SDN offerings for data centers, clouds, mobile carrier networks and campuses.  The Company will provide OpenFlow support across its ExtremeXOS®-based Ethernet switch portfolio and will support multiple OpenFlow controllers including NEC and BigSwitch. Extreme Networks will introduce a plug-in for OpenStack to manage network switches using the Quantum APIs. Lastly, a new Web portal called xKIT will be launched aimed at sharing SDN applications.

Extreme Networks portfolio of high performance Ethernet switches and the ExtremeXOS® operating system today offer a variety of programmability options including APIs, SDKs, and purpose built applications, including XNV™, for centralizing network intelligence, network abstraction, and third party application development.  Today's announcements broaden and reinforce Extreme Networks commitment to SDN.

By enabling OpenFlow across its line of Ethernet network switches, application developers can build SDN applications for campus, cloud and carrier networks using a consistent framework powered by ExtremeXOS. Additionally, by supporting multiple controllers, Extreme Networks offers customers a set of choices when it comes to their SDN deployment. The OpenFlow capabilities described above will be available to new and existing customers with active support agreements in July 2012.

"Creating private clouds is a top 10 IT initiative for 2012, however these rapidly scaling and dynamic environments create significant challenges for legacy networks," said Bob Laliberte, senior analyst for ESG. "Software Defined Networks hold significant promise to overcome those issues and enable new applications and services to be delivered. Extreme Networks SDN announcement demonstrates its commitment to deliver to its customers a foundation for open and programmable network environments to better meet cloud computing requirements."

OpenStack offers an open, community-driven platform for centralized orchestration. Bringing network switches into the realm of orchestration is a logical next step for Extreme Networks in its continual evolution towards open technologies and cloud scale networks.

Extreme Networks will also provide a new application and knowledge base portal called xKIT for sharing applications so that customers and application developers can more rapidly address evolving network challenges.  xKIT will become available in July 2012.

"An SDN approach that provides network abstraction, centralized intelligence and programmability is fundamental to addressing the fast evolving challenges associated with mobility, cloud sourcing and the consumerization of IT," said Shehzad Merchant, vice president of technology strategy for Extreme Networks. "The benefits of SDN are applicable across the cloud, campus and carrier networks."

About Extreme Networks 

Extreme Networks is a technology leader in high-performance Ethernet switching for cloud, data center and mobile networks.  Based in Santa Clara, CA, Extreme Networks has more than 6,000 customers in more than 50 countries. For more information, visit the company's website at http://www.extremenetworks.com. 

Extreme Networks, the Extreme Networks logo, ExtremeXOS, and XNV are trademarks or registered trademarks of Extreme Networks, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other names are the property of their respective owners.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including without limitation statements as to features, performance and benefits of the products are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date. Because such statements deal with future events, they are subject to risks and uncertainties, including network design and actual results of use of the product in different environments. We undertake no obligation to update the forward-looking information in this release. Other important factors which could cause actual results to differ materially are contained in the Company's 10-Qs and 10-Ks which are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (http://www.sec.gov).

SOURCE Extreme Networks