Consolidation has become the watchword in the networking industry as vendors are integrating data storage, network devices, and server systems. Enterasys became the latest vendor to outline its strategy for how it will cope with these changes.The company, the network infrastructure and security division of Siemens Enterprise Communications GmBH & Co.KG, unveiled new functionality in its S- series switches. The devices now automatically detect virtual machine changes and automatically configure application-specific network policies, priorities and bandwidth across both virtual and physical environments. The vendor said that the new features support virtualization functions from Citrix, Microsoft and VMware and work with server and storage products from suppliers, such as Dell, HP and IBM.

In effect, Enterasys networking products no longer associate network policies to specific switch ports, so any application running on any server can be dynamically authenticated and then assigned policies for access control, bandwidth prioritization, and QoS. In addition, the company said it will comply with emerging IEEE standards for vSwitch/physical switch interaction  standards designed to offload particular functions to physical switches and enable virtual port aggregation.

Competitors, such as Cisco and HP, have been moving in similar directions. In some cases, like with HP, the vendor is expected to optimize connections to its own servers and storage units while providing rudimentary functionality to other devices. Enterasys does not play in those markets, so it will have to partner with other companies to deliver the function needed by a small and medium business.

Whether or not, it can reach its goals is unclear. Enterasys carved out a small niche in the networking market, and recently has tried to grow by combining its resources with those from other vendors, such as Siemens. Yet, the company continues to be dwarfed by firms, like Cisco and HP, and its future therefore is cloudy as the market evolves.