Expand Networks Outperforms Cisco in Tests Conducted by The Tolly Group.

Business/Technology Editors

ROSELAND, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2000

- Expand's ACCELERATOR 4000(TM) Achieves Eleven Times More

Throughput Than Cisco's STAC Compression Technology -

Evaluators at The Tolly Group have touted the "impressive" network accelerating technology of Expand Networks, Inc., indicating that the New Jersey-based networking start-up can effectively "create" up to eleven times the throughput yielded by Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO) technology. The Tolly Group's findings were issued after completing an extensive competitive evaluation that compared Expand's flagship networking hardware solution - the ACCELERATOR 4000(TM) - which caches all types of enterprise data, with Cisco's 7204 Series STAC-enabled routers.

Network designers employing WAN links that require high-speed connectivity, and who need to improve network performance, are faced with two options: purchase more capacity (lease another link or buy a higher-capacity circuit) or deploy other technologies that improve network performance. These solutions include bandwidth management, Web caching; enterprise caching and compression.

"Results indicate that the ACCELERATOR 4000 can deliver an impressive 427 percent increase in effective throughput when compared to the standalone Cisco 7204 Series routers without STAC enabled, and a 279 percent" gain against the routers with STAC compression enabled," the report states.

Talmon Marco, president and co-founder of Expand Networks, noted that the evaluators perfectly crystallized his company's mission. "Essentially, The Tolly Group's findings reinforce what Expand Networks has been saying all along," said Marco. "Companies must maximize their infrastructure investments by getting the best performance from their existing network; our enterprise caching and acceleration technology beats traditional compression hands-down, from a performance - as well as a cost savings - standpoint."

The findings of The Tolly Group evaluators bear out Marco's claim: "Test results show that the ACCELERATOR 4000 dramatically improved effective throughput when used as an alternative to (Cisco's) STAC compression," the report states.

"Typically, when enterprises need more throughput, they purchase higher speed circuits or implement load balancing techniques," says Kevin Tolly, president and chief executive officer of The Tolly Group. "There are inherent fiscal and technical disadvantages to this approach. Expand Networks has a unique and cost-effective solution for additional network performance."

The overwhelming performance improvement of the ACCELERATOR 4000 as found by The Tolly Group is a result of the underlying algorithms: selective caching; vertical data analysis; adaptive packet compression; and QoS (Quality of Service Prioritization). These algorithms are able to analyze data in all levels of the IP stack. The ACCELERATOR 4000 applies selective caching for the caching of repeatedly transmitted data such as HTML, JavaScript, Citrix ICA, SQL, etc., vertical data analysis for "header optimization", and adaptive packet compression for acceleration of data that is not cached. QoS prioritization is applied to delay sensitive traffic such as VoIP.

About Expand Networks

Expand Networks' (a)Enterprise Caching and Acceleration solution provides broadband-level performance that protects and optimizes existing network infrastructure investments. Through its ability to cache enterprise networks, Expand Networks extends the performance benefits of Web Caching beyond Web traffic to all enterprise data. The result is 100- 400+% network performance increase, which supports the deployment of bandwidth-intensive applications such as ERP, CRM, Thin Client and Web Applications (visit www.tolly.com for unbiased third party testing by the Tolly Group). For more information about Expand Networks, please visit our Web site at www.expand.com, or call [phone].

(a) 1 patent approved, 5 patents pending approval

About The Tolly Group

The Tolly Group produces high-quality tests that meet three overarching criteria: All tests are objective, fully documented and repeatable. The Tolly Group endeavors to provide complete disclosure of information concerning individual product tests, and multiparty competitive product evaluations. As an independent organization, The Tolly Group does not accept retainer contracts from vendors, nor does it endorse products or suppliers. For more information on the group, or its Fair Testing Charter, visit www.tolly.com.

Expand Networks, Adaptive Acceleration and ACCELERATOR 4000 are trademarks of Expand Networks, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.