ActiVia Networks CDN Solution Interoperates with Cisco Caches.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 2003

ActiVia Networks(TM) confirms its leadership position as Content Delivery Network (CDN) solutions provider to enterprises and service providers, by extending its unique "Any Cache(TM)" architecture to support Cisco(TM) cache engines.

ActiVia Networks, the leading provider of content networking solutions to large corporations and service providers, announces the certification of Cisco caches as part of its Any Cache support program.

Version 2.0 of Constellation(TM) (available in June 2003) will interoperate with Cisco's caches, greatly simplifying the deployment and operations of managed cache networks and managed CDNs built upon Cisco caches. Functions supported initially include Cache Management (configuration, upgrading, monitoring...) and Content Distribution. Advanced CDN features like security management and access control will be added in future releases.

In February 2001, ActiVia announced the support of Network Appliance(TM) caches and, in June 2001, that of CacheFlow(TM) (now Blue Coat Systems(TM)) security and cache appliances.

"Constellation has been designed from day one to support any type of CDN edge device like caches, video servers or application servers. Given the flexible and open architecture of our technology, we were able to integrate Cisco cache engines easily, as we did previously with Network Appliance and Blue Coat Systems," comments Sacha Fosse-Parisis, CTO of ActiVia. "The Cisco equipment presents all of the technical characteristics for an excellent integration with our A*Star(TM) content routers."

Constellation, ActiVia's leading edge CDN solution, is the only content networking and CDN management platform to support multiple edge devices from third party vendors. This unique concept makes ActiVia's Constellation the solution of choice for leading IP service providers, as they start delivering managed cache and managed ECDN services to large corporations worldwide.

"Cisco and Network Appliance are by far the market leaders for caching appliances in today's market, both for installed products and new cache sales," said Michael Hoch, research director at the Aberdeen Group(TM). "By providing support for Cisco products, in addition to that for Network Appliance and Blue Coat, ActiVia's systems can become a highly valuable managed delivery application, leveraging a customer's investments in existing and new caching appliances to create a coherent CDN structure."

Interoperability with Cisco caches, in addition to those of Network Appliance and Blue Coat Systems is a requirement of a growing number of ActiVia's existing and prospective customers.

"Several enterprises have recently requested that ActiVia's CDN solutions support Cisco caches in a very near future," says Pierre Liautaud, Chief Executive Officer of ActiVia Networks. "Today's announcement confirms ActiVia's commitment to meet and exceed our customers' expectations and demonstrates the extreme flexibility of our solution architecture. It will also satisfy our business partners, since providing a wider choice to corporate customers is key to global and regional service providers."

By adding Cisco's cache engines to the list of certified caches, ActiVia now supports the three leading cache vendors, giving the company access to an even larger share of the global CDN infrastructure market, which was recently estimated at US$20B over the next 4 years (Source: IDC(TM), Content Networking Forecast & Analysis, May 2002).

ActiVia Networks constantly explores business development opportunities with cache/edge device vendors and expects to announce interoperability with several other vendors in future releases of Constellation.

About ActiVia Networks

ActiVia Networks designs and delivers packaged content networking solutions to large corporations and service providers worldwide.

ActiVia Networks helps large corporations efficiently manage the distribution of valuable business content over their Intranet and Extranet infrastructure. Deployed over private or virtual IP networks, ActiVia's Enterprise solutions allow corporations to utilize bandwidth more efficiently and to optimize cache infrastructure, while providing end-users with quality access to strategic enterprise content. They enable effectively rolling out new multimedia applications across the extended enterprise, like e-learning, web casting, and e-marketing.

ActiVia's ESP solutions allow global and regional enterprise service providers to provide managed Caching and managed CDN services to those corporations that wish to outsource their cache or CDN infrastructure. In addition, ActiVia Networks enables ISPs to build and operate their own Internet CDN, serving the most complex Internet content delivery needs of corporations, content providers and content aggregators.

ActiVia Networks builds upon leading-edge technologies developed by its founders since 1995 at INRIA, the prestigious French Computer Science Laboratory and European host of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Backed by a prestigious line-up of scientific and business advisors, and contributing to several standardization initiatives such as Content Alliance and IETF, ActiVia Networks is the vision leader of next generation Content Networking Solutions. Partners include global vendors such as Equant, IBM, Blue Coat Systems, Network Appliance, as well as France Telecom R&D.

WEB SITE: www.activia.net

ActiVia Networks, Constellation, A*Star and Any Cache are trademarks of ActiVia Networks SA. Cisco, Network Appliance, Blue Coat Systems, IDC and Aberdeen Group are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.