Accton's SwitcHub-7s Ranked Fastest 10/100 Ethernet Switch In Tolly Group Test.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 1996--In a recent study conducted by The Tolly Group, Accton Technology Corporation's SwitcHub-7s (ES2007-TX) outperformed similar 10/100 Mbps devices from 12 leading manufacturers in both cut-through and store-and-forward latency tests.

According to these independent lab results, that makes the SwitcHub-7s the fastest switching device in its class.

In The Tolly Group's 1996 Ethernet Switching Industry Study, products from 13 network switch manufacturers were compared, including devices from 3Com, Acacia Networks, Asante Technologies, Cabletron Systems, Cisco Systems, FORE Systems, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Ornet, UB Networks, US Robotics, Xylan, and Accton Technology.

The objective was to compare performance for packet throughput and latency for both Ethernet networks (10-10 Mbps) and Fast Ethernet (10-100 Mbps) networks. In measuring overall performance, measuring latency is particularly valuable since latency denotes the amount of time required for a data transmission to reach its destination. The lower the measurable latency, the better the overall performance.

In separate tests, Accton's SwitcHub-7s outperformed all the units testing, delivering the lowest latency for both cut-through and store-and-forward switching. Cut-through, which is the fastest type of switching, is typically used on quieter networks and passes data without error-checking. Store-and-forward is slower, and checks data packets before forwarding them through the switch to eliminate error propagation.

The Tolly Group conducted tests for cut-through latency using 64-byte frames. Accton's SwitcHub-7s outshone the competition with latency of only 13.2 microseconds, compared to 35 for the nearest competitor. As the frame size increased, latency performance improved. The SwitcHub-7s showed a latency of 11.6 microseconds for 512-byte frames and 12.6 microseconds for 1,518-byte frames.

In tests for store-and-forward latency, Accton's SwitcHub-7s outperformed all competitors by a notable margin. The Tolly Group tested for three types of store-and-forward latency: unicast frames, multicast frames, and broadcast frames. In a test using 64-byte frames, Accton's SwitcHub-7s demonstrated a through latency 56.6 microseconds for unicast frames, 58.4 microseconds for multicast frames, and 57.4 for broadcast frames; an average of 8 microseconds better performance than the nearest competitor.

In similar tests using 512-byte and 1,518-byte frame sizes, Accton held its lead with performance numbers of 415.8 (unicast), 416.6 (multicast), and 416.6 (broadcast) microseconds for 512-byte frames, and 1,220.8 (unicast), 1217.4 (multicast), and 1,221.6 (broadcast) microseconds for 1,518-byte frames.

The Tolly Group has posted the complete findings of the 1996 Ethernet Switching Industry Study on the World Wide Web at www.tolly.com .

"Accton's engineers have been actively working to create the fastest switching technology available and we are gratified to receive independent corroboration that we have succeeded," said Mr. Yimin Doo, President and CEO of Accton Technology in Taiwan.

"All of Accton's products are designed to be incredibly simple to install, use, and administer while delivering the best price/performance available. This independent test by The Tolly Group not only shows that we can underprice the competition, but that we can outperform them as well."

Accton's SwitcHub-7s is a seven-port 10/100 Mbps Ethernet switch with six 10BASE-T ports and a single 100BASE-TX port. Developed specifically to link legacy 10BASE-T workgroups to 100BASE-TX networks, the SwitcHub-7s is the ideal way to get maximum performance when linking legacy network devices to Fast Ethernet.

To provide maximum versatility, the SwitcHub-7s can be configured to operate in either full- or half-duplex data transfer mode to support the interconnection requirements of different high-speed devices. It has auto-sensing capability, so it can adjust the link speed to either 10 or 100 Mbps, delivering an immediate improvement in performance by partitioning overloaded network segments.

The SwitcHub-7s is a plug-and-play device that can be easily installed in an existing Ethernet network without the need for additional adapters or drivers. It also features Accton's exclusive SmartWatch front panel display, an LED system that makes it easy to configure, monitor, and diagnose system problems at a glance.

The SwitcHub-7s is available from Accton Technology Corporation for $1,595 (U.S.).

Accton Technology Corporation has its international headquarters in Taiwan Science-based Industrial Park, and manufactures workgroup connectivity hardware and software. Accton Technology Corporation address No. 1, Creation Road III, Science-based Industrial Park, Hsinchu 3007, Taiwan, R.O.C. Tele: 3-577-0270, Fax: [phone]. Accton USA, which handles mass-market product distribution throughout the Western Hemisphere, is located at 1962 Zanker Road, San Jose, CA 95112; telephone [phone]; FAX: [phone].

Accton Express Ltd., which is responsible for supporting value-added resellers, system integrators, and third-party suppliers with Accton networking products, is located at 61 Spit Brook Road, Executive Tower, Suite 304, Nashua, NH 03060; telephone [phone]; FAX: [phone]. Accton also has sales offices in Tokyo, Sydney, London, Frankfurt, Beijing, Dubai, Bombay and Taipei.

CONTACT: Woolf Media Relations, Inc.

Tom Woolf, 415/508-1554

www.woolfmedia.com