3Com and F5 Collaborate To Deliver Enterprise E-Networks With Web-Enabled CoreBuilder 9000 Services.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 1999--

New Technology Combined With 3Com(R) Products Will Enhance Support

for E-Commerce Applications, Increase

E-Network Availability and Improve Web-Based Business Access

3Com Corporation (Nasdaq: COMS) and F5 Networks, Inc., (Nasdaq: FFIV), a leading provider of Internet Traffic Management products have signed a strategic agreement enabling 3Com to leverage F5's full suite of Internet Traffic Management products with the flagship enterprise system, the CoreBuilder(R) 9000 family of switches. The agreement will result in 3Com(R) solutions for LAN and WAN server load balancing to reduce slow Web-related e-commerce activities as well as content and directory verification to construct easy-to-manage/easy-to-use e-Networks.

3Com will offer F5's best-of-breed Internet Traffic Management products to complement existing 3Com customer installations and quicken the pace of e-Network installations. The new products resulting from this relationship are also expected to offer 3Com enterprise customers a quick and easy method to monitor and balance Web traffic across e-business servers, preserving the integrity of e-Networks.

Due to the combined security, performance and high-availability of the integrated product lines, the new relationship is also expected to open additional opportunities for future CoreBuilder 9000 switch installations with ISPs, ASPs, Web-hosting and portal providers.

Phase I: Reseller Agreement, Effective Immediately

Under the terms of the agreement, 3Com will first offer F5's Internet Traffic Management products as separate, standalone devices to immediately enhance its e-Networks offerings. These offerings include: BIG/ip(R) Controller to introduce a high availability, intelligent load-balancing device for its enterprise customers and 3DNS(TM) Controller to ensure optimal reliability and consistent performance in all associated Internet sites -- regardless of their location.

Phase II: Fully Integrated, Highly Scalable Internet Traffic Management for the CoreBuilder 9000 Family of Switches

3Com also intends to integrate F5's full suite of BIG/ip and 3DNS software onto modules for the CoreBuilder 9000 family of switches. 3Com intends to be the first to integrate F5's complete solution in its native environment into a chassis platform. The new modules are targeted for first customer shipment next year. 3Com's e-Networking strategy is anchored by the CoreBuilder 9000 system and enhanced with a broad set of e-Network services beyond basic LAN infrastructure services including:

--Load Balancing

--Policy Services

--Voice Gateway

--LAN Telephony

"We have thoroughly tested F5's traffic management products and found them to be an optimal solution for our e-Network systems," said Edgar Masri, 3Com's vice president of network services business unit. "Customers building e-Networks will continue to benefit from this relationship as 3Com integrates F5's full software solution into the CoreBuilder 9000 switches, the industry's strongest platform for e-Network services. The CoreBuilder 9000 family is the industry's only single platform designed to scale from the core to the edge of the network, utilizing all the same connectivity modules while offering dual fabric redundancy, dual power supplies and configuration management."

The CoreBuilder 9000's industry-leading reliability/availability features and levels of performance scalability make it the superior platform for deploying Web-based e-Network services in the enterprise -- and a superior choice to run e-business operations.

"This relationship provides an enormous advantage for customers by offering them access to F5's best-of-breed Internet Traffic Management products through 3Com's world-class switching products and established reseller network," said Jeff Hussey, chairman, president and chief executive officer of F5 Networks. "Our agreement with 3Com, one of the most established and trusted providers of networking solutions in the market today, will certainly broaden F5's distribution and expand our entry point into enterprise networks."

About F5 Networks

F5 Networks is a leading provider of integrated Internet Traffic Management solutions designed to improve the availability and performance of mission-critical Internet-based servers and applications. These products monitor and manage local and geographically dispersed servers and devices, intelligently directing traffic to the server best able to handle a user's request. F5 Networks' solutions are designed to help prevent system failure, provide timely responses to user requests and data flow, and cost-effectively manage an organization's Internet infrastructure. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Washington, D.C., Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, The Netherlands, and Singapore. F5 Networks is located on the web at www.f5.com.

About 3Com Corporation

With over 300 million customers worldwide, 3Com Corporation connects more people to information in more ways than any other networking company. 3Com delivers innovative information access products and network system solutions to enterprises, small businesses, carriers and network service providers, PC OEMs and consumers. 3Com. More connected.(TM) For further information, visit 3Com's World Wide Web site at www.3com.com or the press site at www.3com.com/pressbox.

3Com and CoreBuilder are registered trademarks and More connected. is a trademark of 3Com Corporation. All other company or product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.