Network Equipment Technologies announced that its UX Series platform has received Microsoft Lync Server 2010 qualification under the Survivable Branch Appliance (SBA) v2 specification. NET's UX Series, a high performance mediation platform, is purpose-built for unified communications and enterprise session border controller applications. The SBA specification includes changes that enable the use of less-expensive processors and support for the virtualization capability with more-powerful processors. The recent qualifications achieved by NET broaden the range of enterprises that can benefit from the UX Series' capabilities, from very small branch offices to large campuses.

NET offers the UX Series platform in three different processor configurations, all SBA v2 qualified for Microsoft Lync. For smaller branches, the UX1000 with an Intel Atom processor provides a cost-effective Survivable Branch Appliance. To power medium-sized offices, the UX1000 is also available with a more-powerful Intel Celeron processor, featuring virtualization capability with support for integrated applications. For large offices, the UX2000, with an Intel Core i7 processor, provides a high performance integrated solution also featuring virtualization.

Virtualization capability, which reduces or eliminates the need for servers in the branch office, is a significant enhancement to SBA v2. By offering virtualization, NET's UX Series platforms enable multiple-line-of-business applications to run on the same platform running the SBA software. NET is partnering with leading independent software vendors to create end-to-end solutions that are pre-tested on the UX Series platform by NET and its partners. Application virtualization on the UX Series platform helps NET deliver differentiated and consolidated solution offerings to its resellers.

"The SBA v2 qualification broadens NET's addressable market by enabling us to offer small branch offices a cost-effective solution for an SBA in the form of the UX1000 with Intel Atom processor. It also allows multiple virtualized applications to run on the true embedded appliance platform in the case of the more-powerful versions of the UX Series platform," said Kevin Isacks, Chief Development Officer, NET. "We are very pleased to have received Microsoft's qualification, as this will allow us to more broadly market our solution as part of Lync deployments."

The SBA v2 qualified UX1000 is being showcased by NET at booth #523 at the Enterprise Connect show in Orlando, Florida between March 26 - March 29, 2012.

"We are pleased to see that NET's UX Series is now qualified for SBA v2 specification. This specification has the potential to reduce the cost for deploying SBA in branches of 25 users or less. Furthermore, NET's use of the virtualization capability available in the new specification can offer additional cost savings to the customer," said Ashima Singhal, Group Product Manager for Microsoft Lync. "We are delighted to participate in announcing the availability of SBA v2 on the UX Series at Enterprise Connect."