Allied Telesyn's Rapier L3 Switch Beats Competition in Independent Testing.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BOTHELL, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 12, 2001

Allied's Rapier 24 triumphs in eTesting Labs' competitive performance and capabilities testing, winning on accuracy, latency and features --

results that underscore its economy to make Rapier 24 the logical

Layer 3 switch of choice

Allied Telesyn International (www.alliedtelesyn.com), a worldwide leader in simplifying IP networking for businesses of all sizes, Monday announced that its Rapier 24 high-performance 24-port Layer 3 standalone switch beat the competition in performance and accuracy in the configurations tested by eTesting Labs (www.etestinglabs.com), an independent Internet and technology testing unit of Ziff Davis Media Co.

Testing performed this month at eTesting Labs' Morrisville, N.C. facilities compared the Layer 3 switching performance of the Allied Telesyn Rapier 24 with that of the Extreme Summit24 in full-density configurations, and validated the Rapier's NAT, firewall and hardware filtering capabilities, as well as the functionality of Rapier's Secure Shell.

The full report can be viewed at http://cgi.zdnet.com/slink?85616.

"We are thrilled to have confirmed what we have known all along -- that the Rapier product line represents the best value in Layer 3 switching available today," said Jim Berthot, Allied Telesyn's head of the Americas and senior vice president. "How often does the fastest, highest performance, most fully-featured product on the market also come in at the best price?

"Our commitment to providing the highest-value products in the network shines with our Rapier switch family."

Allied Telesyn's Rapier 24 Layer 3 switch was tested against Extreme Network's Summit24 switch. In addition to testing Layer 3 performance, tests were undertaken to validate the hardware filtering, firewall, and Secure Shell (SSH) features of the Rapier 24 switch.

          Rapier 24 vs. Summit24 Comparative Performance Tests

Test                                   Winner

Bi-directional frame loss test         Rapier 24 -- lost no packets at
64-byte packets at 100% utilization    full wire-speed operation to
using 24 100BaseTX ports and 1 or 2    outperform the Summit24
1000BaseSX ports

Full mesh latency test                 Rapier 24 -- performance was
64-byte packets at 50% utilization     40% better than Summit24 (10.35
using 24 100BaseTX ports               microseconds  vs. 17.7)

Bi-directional latency test            Rapier 24 -- performance was
64-byte packets at 50% utilization     53% better than Summit24 (5.4
using 24 100BaseTX ports and 1 or 2    microseconds vs. 11.5)
1000BaseSX ports

Full mesh frame loss test             Rapier 24 & Summit24 -- both
64-byte packets at 100% utilization   achieved full wire-speed
using 24 100BaseTX ports              operation with no packets lost,
                                      but in bi-directional testing,
                                      the Rapier 24 outperformed the
                                      Summit24 with no packet loss

"With a switch of this kind, the true measure of its performance is its ability to handle small packet sizes. One of the key foundations for the delivery of QoS-based performance is the ability to manage high throughput traffic with minimal latency," said Melvyn Wray, Allied Telesyn's senior vice president of marketing.

"With today's demanding VoIP and streaming applications, which typically generate small frames and are extremely latency sensitive, this is particularly important. Rapier's zero packet loss and low latency performance in these tests say it all -- Rapier can admirably fulfill both SMB and enterprise level networking needs, and at a cost that makes it hard to pass up."

Allied Telesyn's Rapier family of Layer 3 IP switches leverages Allied Telesyn's proven AR-series router technology, combining silicon-based wire-speed switching with advanced LAN and WAN routing features.

Its price/feature combination means that Rapier is poised to help enterprises move layer 3 IP switching technology toward the edge of the network, and to help smaller businesses address networking needs in ways that were previously beyond their budget.

Advanced capabilities like the integrated Stateful Inspection firewall and SecureVPN provide small businesses with the opportunity to develop a cohesive local or distributed network strategy based on a solid common platform.

Not only does the Stateful Inspection firewall provide network address translation and LAN/WAN isolation, it can also deliver inter-VLAN protection for mission critical security applications at speeds of up to 75 Mbps per second.

Combined with other advanced features, like the Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) and significant QoS measures, the Rapier is a clear standout for 100 percent network availability, high performance and simplified network management.

The highly successful, high-performance Rapier product line continues to grow, with the Rapier 24 and the all-fiber Rapier 16f being joined this Spring by new multi-port Gigabit products -- the Rapier G6 switches -- and a chassis-based Rapier platform scheduled for release early in the second half of this year.

The Rapier 24, and other members of the high-performance, Layer 3 Rapier product line, is based on the latest in high-level integration ASIC technology. The Rapier 24 Fast Ethernet Layer 3 switch exploits Allied Telesyn's proven software expertise to deliver a non-blocking, wire-speed IP switching solution, with optional Gigabit uplinks and direct WAN connections, at a compelling price point.

In fact, its superior performance is equalled only by its astounding price, making it possible for more networks to benefit from the many advantages offered by Layer 3 traffic management for data, voice and video.

About eTesting Labs Inc.

eTesting Labs Inc. (www.etestinglabs.com), a Ziff Davis Media company, leads the industry in Internet and technology testing. In June 2000, ZD Labs changed its name to eTesting Labs to better reflect the breadth of its testing services.

Building on Ziff Davis Media's history of leadership in product reviews and benchmark development, eTesting Labs brings independent testing, research, development, and analysis directly to publications, Web sites, vendors, and IT organizations everywhere. For more information email us at [e-mail] or call us toll free at 877/619-9259.

About Allied Telesyn International

Allied Telesyn International simply connects the IP world with affordable, highly reliable networking solutions.

The company has achieved and maintained its market leadership positions in the enterprise and small/medium business sectors by developing a diverse portfolio of network components that build flexible, efficient, cost-effective and reliable networks for the LAN, WAN and MAN, and backing them with solid warranties and the best support in the industry.

Core competency in universal connectivity, backed by leadership in media conversion, switching and fiber optic networking put Allied Telesyn in position to leverage its expertise in high-growth markets such as Ethernet-based broadband networks.

Incorporated in 1987, Allied Telesyn is headquartered in Bothell, and has locations throughout the United States and the world. Allied Telesyn's products are available through a large network of consultants, resellers, retailers and catalogs.

Further information on Allied Telesyn International and its products can be found at www.alliedtelesyn.com, or by calling its headquarters at 800/424-4284.