Dune Networks Announces the General Availability of the ``Gobi'' Reference System Providing up to 1.28Tbps of Full-Duplex User Bandwidth.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Dune Networks, a leader in switching fabric and traffic management solutions, announces the general availability of the carrier-class reference system named Gobi.

The Gobi reference system is based on a modular architecture and utilizes a mid-plane design. At the front, up to 16 line cards can be plugged, each providing up to 80Gbps of user bandwidth. At the rear, the Gobi can be populated with up to 8 fabric cards providing full-duplex non-blocking switching capacity of up to 1.28Tbps user bandwidth with 25% of switching fabric redundancy. The Gobi chassis was designed to be NEBS compliant and fits into one third of a 7-foot rack. The Gobi chassis can be further configured to work in a multi-chassis configuration. Thus, a Gobi-based system can scale up from one to hundreds of high bandwidth line cards.

The Gobi switching cards utilize Dune Networks' FE200 device. Four fabric cards are utilized in a 640Gbps configuration with 3+1 redundancy, whereas a 1.28Tbps configuration with 6+2 redundancy utilizes 8 fabric cards. The Gobi chassis can be configured with a variety of line cards ranging in capacity from 10Gbps to 80Gbps of bandwidth, all designed using various types of available Dune Networks FAP devices.

"Although the SAND chipset enables both lower and higher capacity modular chassis designs, the maximum density of a single chassis using today's technology is always an open design question. The Gobi reference system demonstrates that 1.28Tbps capacity solutions are feasible with today's commercially available technology," commented Ofer Iny, the Dune Networks CTO.

The Gobi system demonstrates the carrier-class resiliency and redundancy features that are built into Dune's SAND chipset. The system maintains full connectivity between all line cards, even if only a single fabric card is left in the system. The Gobi system further implements lossless switchover between active fabric cards. Finally, two Gobi line cards can be configured in an active and standby mode, with traffic always relayed to the active one, with minimal software intervention.

The Gobi system also highlights the versatile traffic management capabilities of the SAND chipset. "System vendors are expected to develop a product portfolio that meets Enterprise and Carrier market demands. The Gobi system demonstrates that a system built using the SAND chipset can address the needs of the Enterprise and Data Centers, while meeting Service Providers' traffic management requirements in the Metro, Core and Edge, where compliance to specifications from Metro Ethernet Forum and other standard bodies is required," said Ofer Iny.

The Gobi reference system and its smaller version, named Negev, are available for demonstration and sale.

About Dune Networks

Dune Networks (www.dunenetworks.com) is a leading provider of intelligent and scalable switching fabrics and distributed standards-compliant traffic management solutions. Dune's innovative architecture provides a truly scalable switching solution, together with a rich and expansive service model. Founded in October 2000, Dune Networks is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has an R&D center in Yakum Industrial Park, Israel.