3Com Corporation Doubles ATM Backbone Switch Capacity; Adds New ATM Migration and Desktop Connectivity Solutions; 3Com's CELLplex ATM Switch First to Feature Scalability from 2.5 to 5 Gbps Using Same Backplane.SANTA CLARA Santa Clara, city, Cuba Santa Clara (sän`tä klä`rä), city (1994 est. pop. 217,000), capital of Villa Clara prov., central Cuba. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 1996--Adding to its leading ATM campus backbone solutions, 3Com Corporation (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :COMS COMS 3Com Corporation (stock symbol) COMS Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist COMS Continuous Opacity Monitoring Systems COMS City of Manchester Stadium (UK) ) today announced new products and developments for three major initiatives: ATM at the backbone, ATM/LAN devices at the boundary and ATM desktop connectivity. This announcement compliments and adds strength to 3Com's Transcend Networking framework. For large-scale ATM backbones, 3Com today unveiled a new switching engine a locomotive for switching cars from one track to another, and making up trains; - called also switch engine ltname>. See also: Switching for the CELLplex 7000 ATM switch. The new engine, named the CELLplex 7000HD, doubles both the switching capacity and port density of the CELLplex 7000 -- all using the same chassis platform. New ATM boundary offerings include the 155 Mbps ATM interface for the LANplex 2500 High Function LAN Switch A network device that cross-connects clients, servers and network devices. Also known as a "frame switch," stand-alone LAN switches are common in all Ethernet networks. A four-port switch is also typically built into a wired or wireless router for homes and small business (see wireless and the high density 7400 Ethernet/ATM interface card for the CELLplex 7000 ATM switch. For ATM desktop connections, 3Com today announced pricing and availability for its comprehensive 25 Mbps ATM solution, including its CELLplex 4000 switch, 25 Mbps module for the ONcore multifunction chassis system and a family of 25 Mbps ATM network interface cards. "3Com continues to lead the industry in providing the broadest range of standards-based, campus ATM solutions for every need," said Nachman Shelef, vice president and general manager of 3Com's ATM division. "We have already established a highly successful product line, as demonstrated by large production networks that we have installed. Now, we are extending this product line to improve serving the special needs of larger Ethernet/ATM networks." ATM at the Backbone: New CELLplex 7000HD ATM Switch Engine The new CELLplex 7000HD now features a 5.0 Gbps switching engine that provides the capacity for up to 32 non-blocking OC-3c 155 Mbps ports. A new eight-port interface card will also be introduced to reach 32 ports. This higher density solution is ideal to support large infrastructures of ATM/LAN switches positioned in the wiring closet The central distribution or servicing point for cables in a network. See MDF and wire center. . Higher density of ATM ports are also needed to support an increasing number of large, centralized server farms with Fast Ethernet An earlier name for 100Mbps Ethernet. See 100Base-T. (networking) Fast Ethernet - A version of Ethernet developed in the 1990s(?) which can carry 100 Mbps compared with standard Ethernet's 10 Mbps. It requires upgraded network cards and hubs. and ATM connections. The new switch engine can be easily inserted into the current CELLplex 7000 chassis. It is backward compatible Refers to hardware or software that is compatible with earlier versions of the product. Also called "downward compatible." Contrast with forward compatible. backward compatible - backward compatibility with all current CELLplex interface cards and physical port modules, enabling users to preserve their CELLplex investment. The CELLplex 7000HD also supports the same software-based features as the CELLplex 7000, including UNI 3.0, UNI 3.1, LAN Emulation See LANE. 1.0 and enhanced IISP IISP Information Infrastructure Standards Panel (ANSI) IISP Interim Interswitch Signaling Protocol IISP Institute of Information Security Professionals IISP International Institute for Software Process for automated routing within large ATM networks. The CELLplex 7000HD also features a new 1960 microprocessor for high performance signaling and LAN Emulation services, as well as the ability to expand memory sizes to accommodate large connection tables. CELLplex 7000 and CELLplex 7000HD Gives Customers Flexibility The current 2.5 Gbps CELLplex 7000 switch is well-suited for large networks to support switched LAN (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. The "clients" are the user's workstations typically running Windows, although Mac and Linux clients are also used. interfaces, as well as in the backbone of small-to medium-sized networks. The CELLplex 7000HD is ideal for use in the ATM-only backbones of large Ethernet/ATM networks as well as for demanding server farm installations. The combination of the CELLplex 7000 and CELLplex 7000HD switch engines provides a complete, standards-based Ethernet/ATM backbone solution for the largest switched networks. "Based on the experience we have accumulated deploying Ethernet/ATM networks, 3Com developed the CELLplex 7000HD switch engine for larger ATM networks and increased use of large ATM- and Fast Ethernet-based server farms," said Shelef. ATM at the Boundary: ATM for the LANplex 2500; High Density Ethernet/ATM Card for CELLplex 7000 3Com announced today details and availability of the LANplex 2500 ATM Module, an intelligent module that provides a single OC-3 multimode fiber An optical fiber with a larger core than singlemode fiber. It is the most commonly used fiber for short distances such as LANs. Light can enter the core at different angles, making it easier to connect the light source to broader light sources such as LEDs. port within a single high-speed slot in the system. The LANplex 2500 High Functions Switch features up to 16 Ethernet segments and two high-speed switched connections. These high-speed connections include any combination of FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) Often pronounced "fiddy," it was a LAN and MAN access method that had its heyday in the mid-1990s. FDDI was an ANSI standard token passing network that transmitted 100 Mbps over optical fiber up to 10 kilometers. , TP-DDI, Fast Ethernet (Tx or Fx), and now ATM. With the new interface, the LANplex 2500 High Function Switch provides an easy ATM migration path for customers using legacy FDDI or Fast Ethernet backbones. The LANplex supports both LAN Emulation 1.0 (including LES/BUS services) as well as Classical IP (RFC (Request For Comments) A document that describes the specifications for a recommended technology. Although the word "request" is in the title, if the specification is ratified, it becomes a standards document. 1577). The LANplex 2500 high function switching features - such as multiprotocol routing, multicast snooping/routing, virtual LANs, user-defined packet filtering See packet filter. , and comprehensive network management - are supported over the ATM module, allowing customers to use the LANplex to route between emulated LANs, filter out certain traffic, deploy multicast services over an emulated LAN, and more. All of the ATM features in the LANplex are standards based and therefore interoperate with other standards-compliant devices. High Density Ethernet/ATM Card for CELLplex 7000 The 7400 Interface Card for the CELLplex 7000 ATM switch features 36 Ethernet ports and one ATM port, and is ideal for bringing switched Ethernet An Ethernet network that is controlled by a switch instead of a shared hub. The switch cross connects all clients, servers and network devices, giving each sending-receiving pair the full rated transmission speed. to the desktop. A CELLplex 7000 fully populated A circuit board whose sockets are completely filled with chips. with the 7400 Interface Cards (four cards) supports 144 Ethernet ports and four 155 Mbps ATM ports. The four ATM ports in the CELLplex 7000 chassis provide load sharing Distributing the workload between two or more computers. See load balancing. and link redundancy -- critical features especially in large networks. Using load sharing over multiple ATM links, the network administrator can optimize the ratio of Ethernet traffic to ATM downlinks to fit the traffic patterns in the network. Link redundancy ensures that failure of specific fiber links do not effect the ability of traffic to flow through the network. The ATM ports can be configured without occupying valuable slot space in the chassis itself. Desktop Connectivity: 3Com's Comprehensive 25 Mbps ATM Solution 3Com now offers a comprehensive 25 Mbps solution, providing customers with ATM-to-the-desktop with high speed downlink options to the backbone through and through; thoroughly; entirely. - Lord Lytton. See also: Backbone . The 3Com 25 Mbps ATM solution includes the CELLplex 4000 25 Mbps ATM switch, 12-port 25 Mbps module for the ONcore Integrated System and ATMLink 25 Mbps adapters. The CELLplex 4000 features 12 ports at 25 Mbps, lists at $7,695 and will be available in June 1996. Also coming for the CELLplex 4000 are 155 Mbps ATM downlink modules for both multimode and single mode fiber. These modules are standards based, allowing interoperable connections to either the CELLplex 7000 ATM switch or the ONcore Integrated System. The multimode fiber module has a list price of $1,205, and will be available in June 1996. The single mode fiber version will be available in August 1996. The ATM 25 Mbps module for the ONcore Integrated System is listed at $4,615. 3Com's new ATMLink ISA (1) (Instruction Set Architecture) See instruction set. (2) (Interactive Services Association) See Internet Alliance. (3) (Internet Security and Acceleration) See .NET. 25 Mbps adapter for the desktop is now shipping at a list price of $325. The ATMLink PCI (1) (Payment Card Industry) See PCI DSS. (2) (Peripheral Component Interconnect) The most widely used I/O bus (peripheral bus). 25 Mbps adapter will ship in August 1996 for $325. -0- Pricing and Availability
Product Specs ATM Availability/Price
(when available)
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Backbone
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CELLplex 7000HD 32 155 Mbps ports Switch engine available in
5.0 Gbps switching July 1996
engine Eight-port Interface Card
in October 1996
Switch Engine: $16,000
Interface Card: $6,000
ONcore I/O Cards for 155 UNI Shipping
Module Singlemode Fiber: $3,795
Multimode Fiber: $1,380
Boundary
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CELLplex 7400 Interface Card: Available in August 1996
36 Enet ports/one $19,800
ATM port
LANplex 2500 155 Mbps ATM Module August 1996
$5,995
Desktop
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CELLplex 4000 12 25 Mbps ports June 1996
$7,695
CELLplex 4000 155 Mbps MMF/SMF June 1996/August 1996
downlink $1,205/$3,845
CELLplex 4000 expansion chassis October 1996
$3,955
ONcore 25 Mbps module; 12 Q3 1996
ports $4,615
ATMLink PCI/ISA 25 Mbps Shipping
adapters $325
3Com Corporation has helped more than 28 million people gain access to critical information through high speed networks. Designed to serve large enterprises, small offices and homes, 3Com products provide a scalable architecture to meet the immediate and long term connectivity needs of today's user. With research and development on three continents, 3Com is one of the data networking industry's largest and fastest growing companies. The company's innovative marketing, sales and support simplify communication, optimize network reliability and protect customer investments. For further information, visit 3Com's Worldwide Web site at http://www.3Com.com. -0- Note to Editors: CELLplex, ONcore, ATMLink and LinkSwitch are trademarks, and 3Com and Transcend are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation. All trademarks belong to their respective organizations. CONTACT: 3Com Corporation Ben Gibson, (Public Relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most ), 408/764-5279 Ben_Gibson@3Com.com or The Weber Group Eric Eddy, 617/520-7025 |
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