Cisco Introduces New Catalyst 5000 Switch Solutions For Wiring Closets; Modular Catalyst 5000 "Group Switching" Module gives users switching at less than $100 per port.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 1996--Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced new hardware and software solutions for its Catalyst(TM) 5000 switch, delivering cost-effective switching and leading network management services to provide customers with a strategic platform for migrating their wiring closets from shared 10BaseT hubs to switching systems.

The new products include a "group switching" interface module for the Catalyst 5000, which provides desktop switching while reducing equipment costs to customers, and new embedded software, Cisco IOS(TM) for Switching, supporting the leading high speed interfaces.

Cisco's new Catalyst 5000 Module integrates the cost and management benefits of shared media hubs with performance and scalability of switching on a single card. The module offers 48 10BaseT interfaces, which can be micro-segmented into managed switched groups of users.

The new Cisco IOS for Switching software is extended to the wiring closet with a set of embedded capabilities on the Catalyst 5000 that provides improved performance over trunk links, integrated RMON, comprehensive traffic diagnostic tools, and enhanced virtual LAN (VLAN) support to enable dynamic configuration of VLANs across Catalyst 5000s.

"Preliminary results show Cisco's Catalyst 5000 captured in excess of 50% of the high-end Ethernet switch market sales in Q1 T96," said Tam Dell'Oro, founder of Dell'Oro Group, a consulting company based in Menlo Park, Calif. "Adding a shared media module will further drive their presence from the core out to the edge of the network."

Catalyst 5000 Group Switching Ethernet Module

Each 48-port module segments four 10BaseT Ethernet segments into groups of twelve users, providing greater bandwidth by limiting contention for network access. Up to four Group Switching cards can be installed in the Catalyst 5000 chassis offering high density configurations of up to 192 Ethernet ports and two switched Fast Ethernet connections.

Combining wire speed performance and direct access to ATM, FDDI and Fast Ethernet, the Group Switching Ethernet module offers high performance access to network resources across the common switching backplane of the 5000. With the Group Switching module, and existing switch 10 and 10/100 modules on a common platform, the Catalyst 5000 offers the flexibility to address current and future high speed technologies in the wiring closet. To ensure reliability in the wiring closet, each module is hot-swappable and supports the spanning tree algorithm on physical and VLAN connections.

"With this innovation, Cisco provides customers with a cost- effective approach to getting the best switch technology on the market," said Dave Rogers, lead advisor, Hoechst Marion Roussel, Inc. "The Catalyst 5000 combines shared and switched connectivity with a clear and immediate migration path to Fast Ethernet, ATM or FDDI under one architecture. We're eager to use the new module in wiring closet applications previously serviced by outdated and limited hub products."

Catalyst 5000 IOS for Switching

Version 2.1, IOS for Switching software embedded on the new module provides improved VLAN management, enhanced network monitoring, improved performance across fast Ethernet trunk ports and support for the new Catalyst 5000 module. For improved VLAN management, Cisco has developed a VLAN Trunk Protocol (VTP) that aids intelligent enterprise-wide VLAN communications across Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, CDDI/FDDI and ATM. VTP enhances VLAN deployment by integrating Cisco's Interlink Switch (ISL), 802.10 and ATM LANE-based VLANs, and dynamically synchronizing these tagging protocols without user intervention. The VTP protocol also keeps track of network changes and communicates them to all Cisco switches and routers within the network, eliminating time consuming network administration and automating configuration of VLANs across switches.

A Dynamic ISL Protocol, also included in the new software release automatically configures the switch port to the VLAN to which new or relocated users have been assigned. This automated configuration process improves network reliability and eliminates network misconfiguration.

To promote enhanced network monitoring, Release 2.1 also provides users with the industry's first embedded RMON capabilities for both Ethernet and Fast Ethernet. This built-in service eases analysis and monitoring tasks and helps network managers tune network performance, easily troubleshoot and identify heavy network users. An enhanced switched port analyzer (SPAN) feature enables the user to mirror traffic from any port or VLAN to another Ethernet or Fast Ethernet port for analysis by a sniffer or a Cisco SwitchProbe.

The new release also significantly increases network backbone capacity through load sharing, boosting client/server applications and increasing throughput between multiple Catalyst 5000s.

All of the new software features, including embedded RMON and VLAN technologies, are managed by an umbrella tool, CiscoWorks for Switched Internetworks(TM), which enables network managers to view and manage the network. Included in CiscoWorks for Switched Internetworks is VLANDirector, which enables networks to be configured on logical rather than geographic locations; TrafficDirector, a traffic monitoring and analysis application; and CiscoView, for device management and monitoring.

Pricing and Availability

The Catalyst 5000 10BaseT Group Switching Ethernet Module will cost $4,795 and will be shipping by July 1996. The Catalyst 5000 software upgrade kit is free to current and new Catalyst 5000 customers. Release 2.1 of Cisco IOS for switching will be available in July 1996.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the leading global supplier of internetworking solutions for corporate intranets and the global Internet. Cisco's products, including routers, LAN and ATM switches, dial-up access servers and network management software, are integrated by the Cisco IOS software to link geographically dispersed LANs, WANs and IBM networks. Company news and product/service information are available at World Wide Web site http://www.cisco.com. Cisco is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. -0-

Note to Editors: Catalyst, Cisco IOS and CiscoWorks for Switched Internetworks are trademarks, and Cisco, Cisco Systems and the Cisco logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. All other trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks or registered service marks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

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