Force10 Networks Sets Industry Record for 10 Gigabit Ethernet Density and Price, Delivering a New Level of Flexibility to Data Centers.

MILPITAS, Calif. -- Force10 Networks today announced that it has increased the 10 Gigabit Ethernet density of the TeraScale E-Series to an industry-leading 224 ports per system, providing the performance scalability that enables enterprises to cost effectively deploy 10 Gigabit Ethernet as the foundation of their next-generation data centers. With its high density 16-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet card, which delivers a per port list price of $3,600, Force10 is expanding the deployment options for 10 Gigabit Ethernet and providing the network design flexibility data center managers require to efficiently meet their traffic needs.

"Building on its history of networking technology innovation, Force10 is the first to market with a high density solution at a price point designed to accelerate the adoption of 10 Gigabit Ethernet in data centers," said Sachi Sambandan, vice president of engineering at Force10 Networks. "This combination of leading density and performance in a cost-effective chassis configuration will cause network architects to rethink design strategies."

With the industry's first 16-port card, Force10 is driving down the cost of chassis-based 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports to stackable prices. By delivering cost-effective 10 Gigabit Ethernet in the chassis-based TeraScale E-Series, Force10 is enabling data center managers to simplify their networks by eliminating the access layer, which typically relies on stackable switches to reduce costs.

Increasingly, higher capacity servers are generating traffic that is greater than one Gigabit per second, creating a bottleneck between the server and switch. With the new Force10 high density 16-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet card, data center managers can directly connect to high performance servers to guarantee line-rate throughput between the servers and the TeraScale E-Series. Additionally, the ability to cost effectively connect directly to servers enables data center managers to extend the reliability and performance of the TeraScale E-Series from the core of their networks to the edge.

By reducing port prices, the Force10 16-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet card also provides enterprises with a cost-effective transition from a Gigabit to 10 Gigabit Ethernet data center. As the next-generation networking technology of the data center, 10 Gigabit Ethernet offers enterprises a more scalable and manageable alternative to the traditional approach of trunking multiple Gigabit Ethernet links. For those data centers that don't yet require full 10 Gigabit Ethernet capacity but require more than one Gigabit per second of bandwidth for such applications as data warehousing, cluster computing, disaster recovery and network attached storage, the low price point of the Force10 high density 10 Gigabit Ethernet card provides a scalable ramp from Gigabit to 10 Gigabit Ethernet speeds.

With rapidly changing bandwidth demands in the data center, flexibility is essential. To provide data center managers with the high level of design flexibility and adaptability they require to cost effectively expand their network, the Force10 high density 10 Gigabit Ethernet card, as well as all other TeraScale E-Series cards, can be individually programmed on a per port basis via the command line interface (CLI). The ability to have both 10 Gigabit Ethernet LAN and WAN ports on a single card enables not only design flexibility but also reduces the costs associated with maintaining spares. Additionally, Force10's 16-port cards support SR, LR, ER and ZR optics to further provide design flexibility.

With the addition of its high density 10 Gigabit Ethernet card, Force10 is continuing to expand its product lines to meet the needs of its varied customer base, which includes enterprise data centers, service providers, government organizations, national laboratories and research organizations. A mix of line-rate and high density cards, combined with three different sized TeraScale E-Series chassis, provides customers with multiple options for building a network. Additionally, the Force10 S50 switch pairs with the TeraScale E-Series to provide a reliable end-to-end data center solution.

The dramatic decline in 10 Gigabit Ethernet port prices has, in large part, driven the increasing adoption of the technology. As the price of a single 10 Gigabit Ethernet port falls below the cost of 10 single Gigabit Ethernet ports, adoption will continue to accelerate. Dell'Oro Group predicts that next year the 10 Gigabit Ethernet market will reach $1.8 billion, more than doubling in size from 2005. By 2009, the industry analyst group predicts that the market will reach $3.3 billion.

The Force10 TeraScale E-Series combines industry-leading density and unmatched resiliency to dramatically alter network economics. Supporting 1,260 Gigabit and 244 Ten Gigabit Ethernet ports per chassis, the TeraScale E-Series simplifies network architectures and reduces the total cost of network ownership. And with a unique architecture that distributes switching, routing and management functionalities between three distinct processors, the TeraScale E-Series ensures maximum network availability.

Pricing and Availability

The high density 16-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet card for the TeraScale E1200 and E600 will be generally available December 15, 2005, with a U.S. list price of $57,500. The high density 8-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet card for the TeraScale E300 will be listed at $37,500.

About Force10 Networks

Force10 Networks is the pioneer in high performance switching and routing. Based on a revolutionary system architecture that delivers best-in-class resiliency and massive scalability, Force10's TeraScale E-Series switch/routers ensure predictable application performance, increase network availability, and reduce operating costs. Today, many of the world's largest Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks depend on Force10 Networks. For additional information, please visit the company's website at www.force10networks.com.

Force10, E-Series and S-Series are trademarks of Force10 Networks, Inc. All other company names are trademarks of their respective holders.