The 5650TD includes two built-in FAST stacking ports in a 1RU design incorporating redundant power supplies.

The 5650TD-PWR has the same configuration as the 5650TD, but also supports IEEE 802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE) for support of IP telephony devices.

The 5698TFD provides 96 ports 10/100/1000Base-T, six combo SFP ports plus 2 XFP ports. The switch includes two built-in FAST stacking ports in a 2RU design incorporating N+1 redundant power supplies.

The 5698TFD is aimed at wiring closet, server distribution and data aggregation applications, Nortel says. It's sister, the 5698TFD-PWR, sports the same configuration but with PoE support for IP telephony and unified communications deployments.

"Better density with PoE is in pretty high demand right now," Kerravala says.