Amber Wave ships AmberSwitch Ethernet switching hub.

ACTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 20, 1995--Amber Wave Systems Inc. announced today that AmberSwitch, the high-performance, low-cost workgroup LAN switching platform, will start shipping in production next month.

The company also introduced a new AmberSwitch switched LAN card supporting 10BASE-2 media, as an optional add-on to the product's original 10BASE-T design. Users can mix and match the two media in increments of eight ports among the four slots in the AmberSwitch chassis.

"With our initial shipments of AmberSwitch, we reach a significant milestone in our goal of pioneering real LAN switching at prices nearly comparable to hubs," said Amber Wave Chairman and Cofounder Curt Gridley. "We intend to continue to push the price/performance curve and drive new features into the market, so that users can deploy practical workgroup applications that take advantage of our new, advanced switching technology."

Designed for low-cost manufacturability and high-end performance, AmberSwitch sets a new price/performance benchmark for the LAN switch market. At an entry-level price of less than $2,000 for 8 switched ports, AmberSwitch's entry price point is a fraction of the price of competing products costing $8,000 or more. Its unique, scalable architecture allows the switch to expand up to 32 ports at a cost of $175 per port, a fraction of the current prices for comparable switching products ranging from $400 to $1,000 per port or more.

"Amber Wave continues to lead the market in the commoditization of Ethernet switching," said noted networking industry analyst Fred J. McClimans, principal of De-ci-sis Inc. in Herndon, Va. "Products like AmberSwitch will allow this technology to become easily affordable and available for a wide range of workgroup applications. The key for users is that Amber Wave is delivering high performance switching in an easy-to-install package at a low price."

"Because of AmberSwitch's modular design, we are able to support a variety of media options," said Cofounder Gregory T. Hopkins. "Our new support for 10BASE-2 will enable us to quickly support international customers by meeting the needs of the installed base of thin net in major European markets. This will help us as we establish our network of key European distributors this year."

The 10BASE-2 coaxial cable, although not as popular as 10BASE-T in the United States, is still the dominant Ethernet medium in many European countries, particularly Germany, the largest European market.

AmberSwitch will be exhibited at Amber Wave's Booth #6240 in the "Start-Up City" section of the NetWorld+Interop show in Las Vegas next week.

At its Networld+Interop show booth, Amber Wave will exhibit:

o A workgroup of AmberSwitches running live applications over a LAN in the booth;

o Its new mixed media support for both 10BASE-T and 10BASE-2, using the AmberSwitch Ethernet boards; and,

o The industry's first adaptive cut-through switching scheme, a patent-pending new feature of AmberSwitch that enables users to configure the system to switch between store-and-forward and cut-through switching on the fly (note to editors: see separate release).

Amber Wave also will give away one AmberSwitch each day of the show to the lucky attendee who visits the company's booth and wins a drawing.

Based on a 5-slot high-speed backplane, AmberSwitch has a flexible, scalable architecture that supports users' current workgroup switching needs with 10BASE-T and AUI ports, and 100BASE-T (or Fast Ethernet) available later this year. The switch also has the built-in ability to support backbone connection to future standards such as asynchronous transfer mode (ATM). With eight to 32 ports of real switched Ethernet on today dominant LAN media, 10BASE-T, or 10BASE-2, AmberSwitch offers the lowest entry-level LAN switch price in the industry. AmberSwitch will be available directly from Amber Wave.

Amber Wave Systems Inc., a privately held corporation headquartered in Acton, Mass., is pioneering the market for workgroup switching by offering high performance LAN switching products for little more than the cost of a shared LAN hub. Amber Wave's mission is to help customers increase their local area network bandwidth by delivering easy-to-use, low cost Ethernet switching products with the advanced features that boost LAN performance and increase reliability. With a focus on innovative engineering and design for manufacturability, Amber Wave developed its AmberSwitch family of products that make workgroup switching a practical solution for any business or organization. Amber Wave Systems Inc. is located at 42 Nagog Park, Acton, MA 01720. Amber Wave can be reached at 508/266-2900 or facsimile: 508/266-1159 or via e-mail: [e-mail].

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AmberWave and AmberSwitch are trademarks of Amber Wave Systems Inc.

CONTACT: Parker, Nichols & Co. Inc.

Brenda Nichols or Jennifer Markson, 508/369-2100