Another draw was the choice of an AC or DC power supply, an option also available on the ServerIronGT switches.

"My limiting factor in datacenter decisions is power," Philips explained. "The Foundry switches all have the option for doing DC power, which is much more efficient and runs cooler, and it really makes a difference for me."

The ServerIronGT switches and SSL module will be available in February. The 2U ServerIron GT C and 5U ServerIron GT E models are each priced at US$39,995. The one-processor SSL6-1 acceleration module is priced at $9,995. The two-processor SSL6-2 module is priced at $17,995.