FOUNDRY LAUNCHES TWO FASTIRON SUPER SX LINE OF POE SWITCHES.

Foundry Networks(R), Inc. (NASDAQ:FDRY), Santa Clara, Calif., a performance and total solutions leader for end-to-end switching and routing, has introduced two new modular systems to its FastIron(R) SuperX line of Power over Ethernet (PoE) switches. The FastIron SX 800 and FastIron SX 1600 provide a scalable, secure, low-latency and fault-tolerant infrastructure for cost-effective deployment of Voice over IP (VoIP), wireless and high-capacity data services throughout the enterprise. The new switches feature redundant power, redundant fans and management modules, load-sharing switch fabrics, high-density 10/100/1000 Mbps PoE and hardware-based low-latency switching and routing for high-performance and reliable network convergence. Additionally, a rich suite of security features including IP source guard, dynamic Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) inspection and DHCP snooping shield the enterprise from internal and external threats. The FastIron SuperX family establishes a new class of convergence- ready solutions, enabling organizations to deploy a secure, reliable, scalable and high-quality infrastructure for total network convergence from the wiring closet to the network core.

The FastIron SuperX family features a unique dual power distribution design to enhance power operation and simplify system configuration. The PoE and system power distribution sub-systems are independent, eliminating the reliability and configuration complexity associated with chassis designs that rely on a common system and PoE power design. Power consumption for system and PoE power are engineered, provisioned and managed independent of one another. The two power sub-systems support N+1 redundancy to ensure continuous operation in the event of a power module failure.

The FastIron SX 1600 scales to 36 10-GE and 384 ports of 10/100/1000 Mbps PoE ports, each capable of delivering 15.4 watts, the highest power output specified in the IEEE 802.3af PoE standard. This is the highest Class 3 PoE capacity in the industry, providing customers with a convergence-ready infrastructure that will scale to support future growth.

"VoIP has been driving the next wave of LAN infrastructure upgrades for small and medium-sized businesses," said Steven Schuchart, senior analyst, enterprise infrastructure for Current Analysis. "Deployment of VoIP is now past proof of concept, large enterprise customers are looking for solutions that truly deliver high density VoIP switches. Foundry's solution today has the highest PoE density products with full VoIP capabilities."

The FastIron SuperX switch architecture features a scalable and resilient PoE design and a low-latency cell-based switch fabric with intelligent traffic management to ensure reliable and high-quality VoIP services. A rich suite of security features that includes policy-based network access control, IP source guard, dynamic ARP inspection and DHCP snooping work in unison to control network access and protect the network from spoofing and man-in-the-middle attacks. To ensure business continuity and maximize system availability, the FastIron SX 800 and FastIron SX 1600 feature 1:1 redundant management, dual load-sharing switch modules, redundant fans and N+1 redundant modules for system and PoE power.

"Enterprise customers are rapidly evolving their networks to enable total convergence," said Bob Schiff, vice president and general manager for Foundry's enterprise business unit. "Next-generation networks must be built with the scalability, quality-of-service assurance, resilience and VoIP- readiness our customers need to achieve business efficiencies and ensure business continuity. The FastIron SX switches are designed to meet and exceed these goals. Foundry again raises the bar for enterprise convergence with a scalable, secure, high-performance and resilient solution without compromising performance, flexibility or serviceability."

FastIron SX 800 and FastIron SX 1600 Description:

-- FastIron SX 800 -- six rack unit (RU) height, eight line card slots; 1:1 redundant management module slots; N+1 redundant, load-sharing system and PoE power supply bays; dual load-sharing switch fabric module slots field; and removable fan tray with redundant fans.

-- FastIron SX 1600 -- fourteen rack unit (RU) height, sixteen line card slots; 1:1 redundant management module slots; redundant, load- sharing system and PoE power supply bays; dual load-sharing switch fabric module slots; removable fan tray with redundant fans.

-- Management modules:

-- 0-port management module, 667MHz CPU with 512MB SDRAM 

-- 2-port 10-GE management module, 667MHz CPU with 512MB SDRAM

-- Line modules:

-- 24-port 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ-45 copper, POE-ready

-- 24-port 100/1000 Mbps SFP fiber

-- 24-port 1000 Mbps SFP fiber

-- 2-port 10-Gigabit Ethernet, LAN PHY 

-- 2-port 10-Gigabit Ethernet, LAN & WAN PHY

Line modules and power supplies are interchangeable with the FastIron SuperX, a modular PoE switch Foundry first introduced in 2005. The sharing of components across these three systems reduces sparing costs across the different chassis. For added flexibility and investment protection, the 24- port 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ-45 Ethernet module may be ordered with POE or upgraded in the field to support PoE.

This announcement also includes the release of IronWare release 3.0, the system software for the FastIron SuperX modular and FastIron Edge X Series fixed-configuration switch families. The common operating software for the fixed configuration and chassis system provides customers with a consistent and rich feature set deployed throughout the network.

FastIron SuperX switches can be upgraded with Advanced IronWare routing software (a Layer 3 upgrade). Advanced IronWare supports a full complement of unicast and multicast routing protocols enabling users to build fully featured Layer 2/Layer 3 networks. Supported routing protocols include RIPv1/v2, OSPF, PIM-SM/DM, BGP-4 and Equal Cost Multi-path (ECMP). The FastIron SX 800, FastIron SX 1600 switches and IronWare 3.0 software are available now.

About Foundry Networks

Foundry Networks, Inc. is a leading provider of high-performance enterprise and service provider switching, routing, security and Web traffic management solutions, including Layer 2/3 LAN switches, Layer 3 Backbone switches, Layer 4 - 7 application switches, wireless LAN and access points, access routers and metro routers. Foundry's 9,700 customers include the world's premier ISPs, metro service providers, and enterprises, including e- commerce sites, universities, entertainment, health and wellness, government, financial and manufacturing companies.

For more information, call 1-888-TURBOLAN or 408/207-1332 or visit http://www.foundrynetworks.com.