Cisco 7000 Series Gains Fast Ethernet Interface, Becomes Only Router Family To Support Three High-Speed Network Types.

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 28, 1995--Cisco Systems, the worldwide leader in LAN switching, today announced a Fast Ethernet interface that enables its high-end Cisco 7000 series routers to communicate at speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) with network devices such as switches, servers and other routers.

The new Fast Ethernet Interface Processor (FEIP) card, which operates in a slot of the Cisco 7000 or 7010 core router chassis, is available with either one or two 100Base-TX ports.

With the new interface, the Cisco 7000 becomes the only router family to support all three of the key high-bandwidth networking technologies on the market. The 7000 has supported 100-Mbps Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) since early 1993, and 155-Mbps Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) since mid-1994.

Larry Lang, Cisco's director of marketing for core products, said, "Fast Ethernet is a key element for bringing routers into the CiscoFusion* architecture for switched internetworks. It will especially appeal to users who are replacing traditional shared- media hubs with new dedicated-LAN switches in the wiring closet.

In conjunction with the new Catalyst 5000 switching system (see accompanying release), the FEIP can be used to aggregate a large number of switched 10-Mbps LANs and give them high-speed access to such Layer 3 routing services as firewalling and access lists."

Fast Ethernet Interface Supports Virtual LANs

Virtual LAN (VLAN) support on the FEIP enables network managers to group users logically rather than by physical location, easing adds, moves and changes. VLAN traffic can be transported using one of two mechanisms: the industry-standard IEEE 802.10 protocol or Cisco's Inter-Switch Link (ISL) protocol for communication with Catalyst 5000 switches (see accompanying release).

Each 100Base-TX port on the FEIP has an RJ-45 connector to attach to Category 5 unshielded twisted pair (100Base-TX); a Media Independent Interface (MII) connector permits connection through external transceivers to multi-mode fiber (100Base-FX) or to Category 3, 4 and 5 UTP or STP (100Base-T4) physical media. Both full- and half-duplex operation are supported. Online insertion and removal maximizes router availability by letting users add or remove FEIPs during system operation.

The FEIP can be managed using the CiscoWorks suite of network management applications, which enables the user to do simple configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting. Support for standard SNMP MIBs is also provided.

Industry's Broadest Range of Media Support

With the addition of the FEIP, the Cisco 7000 offers the industry's broadest range of router media support. Other available interfaces include Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI, serial connections, High-Speed Serial Interface, ATM, channelized T1/E1 and IBM channel attachment. Future plans call for the addition of an interface for 100VG-AnyLAN, the other emerging standard for 100-Mbps Ethernet operation.

Pricing and Availability

Available beginning in June, the Fast Ethernet Interface Processor (FEIP) will be priced at $10,500 with one 100Base-TX port and $14,000 (U.S. list) with two ports.

Cisco Systems, Inc. is the leading global supplier of enterprise networks, including routers, LAN and ATM switches, dial-up access servers and network management software. These products, integrated by Cisco's Internetwork Operating System (Cisco IOS) link geographically dispersed LANs, WANs, and IBM networks. Cisco is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and in the U.S. is traded under the NASDAQ symbol CSCO.

CONTACT: Cisco Systems, Inc.

Amanda Jaramillo, 408/526-7391

Steve Bauer, 408/526-4433

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William Orrange or Janis Ulevich, 415/329-1590