Cisco Announces Advanced QoS Capabilities on Catalyst 5000 Family Solutions; New Modules Deliver Layer 4-7 Intelligence and Policy Management to the Wiring Closet.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 1999--

Cisco Systems, Inc., today announced three new QoS line cards for the Catalyst 5000 Family.

In addition to achieving increased wiring closet port density, these modules deliver application aware networking to protect the integrity of mission critical applications. When used in the wiring closet and in conjunction with Catalyst 6000 Family and 8500 Family devices in the backbone, these line cards enable end-to-end QoS capabilities across campus networks.

The new products announced today include a 24-port 10/100 RJ-45 module, a 36-port 10/100 RJ-21 module and a 24-port 100FX MT-RJ multimode fiber module, each supporting advanced QoS features.

"As emerging applications place greater demands on campus networks, our customers find that they require differentiated QoS in both the wiring closet and the network core," said Soni Jiandani, Vice President of Marketing at Cisco Systems. "These new modules will use CiscoAssure and Cisco QoS Policy Manager to deliver end-to-end policy setting and control, protecting mission critical applications."

The products announced today incorporate QoS Classification and Weighted Random Early Detection (WRED) drop threshold management in addition to high-end features such wire-speed Layer 3 forwarding, Fast EtherChannel, 802.1Q/p, and InterSwitch Link (ISL). Now, users will be able to classify traffic into one of multiple priority classes and also manage those classes to ensure that mission critical applications such as voice are appropriately prioritized.

The 36-port 10/100 RJ-21 module and the 24-port 100FX MT-RJ module increase the Catalyst 5000 Family's maximum port density by 50 and 100%, respectively. The Catalyst 5000 Family's broad range of interfaces and high-port density were cited as significant factors in the Catalyst 5509's 1999 Network Computing -- Well Connected Award for best high density switching solution.

These new products compliment the Catalyst 5000 Family's recently introduced wiring closet enhancements: Catalyst Supervisor Engine II G and III G offering wire-speed IP, IPX and IP multicast switching across subnets, gigabit connectivity, intelligent Layer 3 and 4 services and full multiprotocol routing; a 24-port 10Base-FL card for cost effective fiber connectivity; and Catalyst 5.1 software with enhanced QoS features such as WRED, Traffic Recognition and Traffic Classification.

Together, these new developments allow the Catalyst 5000 Family to effectively manage today's most demanding network applications such as videoconferencing, multicast and integrated video, voice and data applications, providing investment protection and increased functionality for the award winning Catalyst 5000 Family of LAN switches.

Pricing, Availability and further information

The 24-port 10/100 RJ-45 module lists for $4,995; the 36-port 10/100 RJ-21 module lists for $7,495 and a 24-port MT-RJ 100FX multimode fiber module lists for $12,495. All modules are orderable and shipping now. For more information on Cisco's Catalyst 5000/5500 family, see http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/cisco/mkt/switch/cat/c5000/

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