Cisco Systems and StrataCom Team for Advanced Internet and Intranet Access Services.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 13, 1996--StrataCom (NASDAQ:STRM), a leading network switch supplier, and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), the leading supplier of internetworking software and hardware, today announced plans to implement a new StrataCom networking specification with the goal of reducing current bottleneck problems between dial access servers and Frame Relay/ATM switches.

Cisco plans to implement these new Dial Access Service interface (DASI) software capabilities within its Cisco IOS software to give Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and carriers a more cost-effective means of providing dial access services such as building virtual private networks (VPNs) or intranets using their existing infrastructure and the Internet.

Cisco IOS software ensures robust, reliable internetworks by supporting the switched requirements of both LAN and WAN protocols, optimizing WAN services and controlling intranetwork access.

To assure widespread adoption of the new interface by the industry, the specification is being made available to other dial access product vendors at no cost. Ascend, Cisco Systems, ControlWare and Microcom are planning to implement the dial access specification within their respective products.

Cisco intends to deploy the new DASI specification throughout its product suite, including the AS 5200 Universal Access Server platform using Cisco IOS software. The goal of the new DASI specification is an intelligent signaling interface between dial access servers and Frame Relay/ATM switches that allow ISPs to increase the price/performance by a factor of up to four.

DASI significantly improves dial-up (analog) and ISDN (digital) basic rate interface (BRI) access to existing StrataCom Frame Relay and ATM-based networks. According to Dataquest, the bulk of today's Internet access is at speeds below 64 Kbps, with the majority of that access represented by analog dial-up users.

A New Model for Providing Corporate Intranet Services

The collaboration between Cisco Systems and StrataCom is aimed at helping ISPs and carriers provide more robust, flexible and secure Internet and corporate intranet service by enhancing the connection-oriented environment provided by Frame Relay and ATM technology.

The new signaling interface will also enable connections to be established dynamically between Cisco's dial access servers and StrataCom switches, thereby eliminating previous restrictions that prevented more than one customer from connecting into a single switch port.

Corporate intranets represent one of the fastest-growing technology markets and biggest opportunity for networkers. According to Zona Research of Redwood City, Calif., the sale of Web server software will hit $8 billion by 1998, more than four times the size of the Internet server business. This is up from $476 million in 1995.

A recent survey of 50 major corporations by Forrester Research Inc. revealed that 16 percent have corporate intranets and 50 percent are planning or considering implementation.

With Frame Relay-to-ATM service internetworking, DASI now provides a means by which analog and ISDN calls can be supported over an ATM infrastructure -- a fundamental requirement for many ISPs planning to migrate to higher-speed network environments.

Compared to alternative solutions, the new DASI will provide dramatically higher-density call processing between Cisco and StrataCom equipment -- increasing call capacity by allowing virtual circuits to be allocated dynamically without users having to upgrade equipment to support Frame Relay switched virtual circuits (SVCs).

DASI also provides the added advantage of being able to interface to the installed base of dial access servers.

User Benefits

The benefits of DASI translate into higher availability and better performance for end users. At the same time, ISPs now have a more cost-effective Internet dial-up solution that enables them to make more efficient use of valuable network bandwidth and access ports.

The current interface between a dial access server and the network is limited in how many customers it can support by the number of PVCs available on the switch access port. DASI removes this limitation and the associated bottlenecks by enabling the dial access server to dynamically establish a Frame Relay PVC based on the identity of the calling party.

With this method, PVCs are only used when a call is active, rather than being "nailed up." This saves network resources by allowing a large pool of virtual circuits to be shared by all network users.

In addition to providing a more flexible and cost-effective dial-up solution for Internet applications, the new DASI interface will be used to support analog, point-to-point (PPP) and Serial Line Interface Protocol (SLIP) calls over StrataCom-based Frame Relay and ATM networks.

Availability

DASI will be available for $2,000 as a value-added feature of StrataCom's INS Dial Access Switching application in the third quarter and within Cisco IOS software.

Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems 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.

StrataCom

StrataCom, Inc., based in San Jose, develops, delivers and supports FastPacket networking systems for ATM applications in private wide-area networks and public carrier service offerings, such as Internet, Frame Relay and ATM.

StrataCom's family of products, including IPX, IGX, BPX, AXIS, FastPAD and EdgeConnect, is used to integrate and transport a wide variety of corporate information, including voice, data, video, LANs, image and multimedia traffic in narrowband to broadband ATM network applications. Visit StrataCom's home page at http://www.stratacom.com. -0-

Note to Editors: Cisco IOS is a trademark, and Cisco, Cisco Systems and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. IGX, BPX, AXIS, FastPAD and EdgeConnect are trademarks, and IPX, StrataCom and the StrataCom logo are registered trademarks of StrataCom, Inc. All other trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks or registered service marks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective holders.

Technical note to editors: DASI: What it is and how it works

The new dial access service interface (DASI) is an intelligent signaling interface that enables dial access server equipment to establish individual connections on a dynamic basis. Cisco Systems' AS5200, equipped with DASI, will receive end user modem or ISDN Basic Rate Interface (BRI) calls and conduct the necessary authentication checks -- presenting the call to a standard Frame Relay port on a StrataCom switch.

The dial access server uses standard Q.931 call setup messages to indicate to the switch the identity of the calling customers and the date link control identifier to be used. The call is then processed through StrataCom's Intelligent Network Server (INS) to determine the details of the Frame Relay connection that needs to be established. The INS then instructs the switch to establish a connection from the DASI port to the predefined destination Frame Relay port that is specified in the subscriber database.

CONTACT: StrataCom

David Callisch, 408/882-2521

[e-mail]

or

Cisco Systems, Inc.

Adam Stein, 408/526-7388

[e-mail]