D-Link India develops low-cost Linux networking gear

D-Link India Ltd. has developed low-cost, Linux-based networking equipment such as routers and firewalls, and VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) phones, specially designed for the requirements of emerging economies, according to an executive of the company.

The company's DPH-70 modem-based VOIP phone, for example, is designed for use over PSTN (public switched telephone network) lines in countries like India where the availability of broadband is not pervasive, said Kamalaksha Rama Naik, managing director of D-Link India, which is the Indian joint venture of Taipei-based D-Link Corp.

Besides being sold in India, the products will also be marketed through D-Link's overseas business units in 26 countries.

"Our focus is on developing products such as VOIP equipment, routers, integrated access devices, network security products and Wi-Fi equipment for the Indian market, and then take these products to similar markets," said Jandhyala Venkata Avadhanulu, director of software technology at D-Link India.

The company introduced this week its first products for the networking market, built around Linux and Intel Corp.'s XScale architecture. The DFW-100i is a hardware firewall solution that provides integrated NAT (network address translation) and VPN (virtual private network) support.

The hardware firewall includes a trusted LAN port, a WAN (wide area network) port that supports virtually all WAN firewall connection types and an independent DMZ (demilitarized zone) port to support local servers such as e-mail, Web and FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

D-Link India has also introduced its DRO-100i multiservice access router for branch offices, which offers routing, quality of service, firewall and VPN functions. The router offers a two channel VOIP as an optional plug-in, and connects to the WAN using a V.35 interface, and to the LAN with 10/100M bps (megabits per second) Ethernet. A built-in ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) interface provides back-up to the WAN.

Pricing details are not yet available for the networking products, which are primarily targeted at SME (small and medium enterprises) and SOHO (small office, home office) users. "In terms of price-performance, these products will be a lot cheaper than those of our competitors," said Naik, adding that the extensive use of software, including Linux, in the products helped drive down product costs.

Mumbai-based D-Link India is a listed company in which D-Link Corp. holds 36 percent of the equity, and the Indian promoters have a 26 percent share. Financial institutions and the public hold the balance equity. The Indian joint venture, besides distributing products from D-Link also has six surface mount technology manufacturing lines at its facility in Goa in Western India.

IDG News Service

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