Foundry Networks Introduces New EdgeIron Product Family of Aggressively-Priced Mid-Range Ethernet Switches for Enterprise Workgroup and Wiring Closet Deployments.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 3, 2001

EdgeIron 4802F Complements Existing Award-Winning FastIron Product

Line And Furthers Foundry's Enterprise Market Strategy

Foundry Networks(R), Inc. (Nasdaq:FDRY), a performance and total solutions leader for end-to-end switching and routing solutions, announced today a new mid-range switch product family designed to fulfill the workgroup and wiring closet needs of enterprise users. The EdgeIron(TM) 4802F is the first in the new family of switches designed to provide wire-speed performance, superior port density, and complete standard Layer 2 feature sets at an aggressive price.

The new EdgeIron family complements Foundry's industry-leading FastIron(R) family of Layer 2 and Layer 3 switches by providing a mid-range Layer 2 fixed-configuration switch to Enterprise users that need high-performance and port density at an aggressive price, but without the need for the high-end advanced Layer 2 features or Layer 3 switching capabilities.

The new EdgeIron 4802F switch features 48 10/100 ports and up to two Gigabit Ethernet uplink ports while consuming just one rack unit (1U), making it ideal for deployment in enterprise wiring closets where space is at a premium. With 1000BaseSX or 1000BaseLX Gigabit uplink options, customers can extend the Gigabit Ethernet distance up to six kilometers. Foundry's EdgeIron 4802F features an auto-sensing 100-240 VAC power supply that makes it easy to deploy in a variety of environments. The power supply on the EdgeIron 4802F is optimized for low power consumption rated at a maximum of just 55 Watts, resulting in lower electricity costs and alleviating the pressure for more electric power to wiring closets. With built-in temperature sensors, the EdgeIron 4802F alerts network operators via SNMP trap when the current temperature exceeds a proper operational level to prevent any cooling problems.

The EdgeIron 4802F ships with a complete standard Layer 2 feature set including 802.1Q VLANs, 802.1p based Quality of Service (QoS), single Spanning Tree Protocol, 802.3x based flow control, BootP, TFTP, Generic VLAN Registration Protocol (GVRP), Generic Multicast Registration Protocol (GMRP) and port mirroring. With support for two queues per port based on 802.1p, the EdgeIron 4802F provides critical QoS technology for next-generation applications such as Voice over IP and streaming audio or video. With an easy-to-use, industry-standard Command Line Interface (CLI), Telnet-based interface, Web-based GUI, and RADIUS-based authentication, the EdgeIron 4802F is easy and secure to configure and deploy. With 10.1 Million packets per second (Mpps) switching performance, support for 8,000 MAC addresses, and 512 active VLANs (each VLAN tag value may range up to 4,096 for 802.1q), the EdgeIron 4802F provides best-in-class performance and capacity at an aggressive price point.

EdgeIron 4802F Complements FastIron 4802

Complementing the award-winning FastIron 4802, Foundry's new EdgeIron 4802F targets mid-range enterprise wiring closet and workgroup deployments. Whereas, the FastIron 4802 targets enterprise and Metro access deployments that need advanced Layer 2 or Layer 3 features, superior high availability and serviceability, and industry leading scalability. While the EdgeIron 4802F offers a complete standard set of Layer 2 features such as 802.1Q VLANs and single Spanning Tree Protocol, the FastIron 4802 includes advanced features such as Rapid STP based 802.1w, Per VLAN STP, and Per VAN Group STP based on 802.1s. While the EdgeIron 4802F offers a standard set of QoS functions based on 802.1p with two queues per port, the FastIron 4802 offers advanced ASIC-based wire-speed bandwidth provisioning, packet coloring, advanced network monitoring and accounting features. While the EdgeIron 4802F features a compact design with a power supply optimized for ultra-low power consumption, the FastIron 4802 is the first in its class to offer integrated hot-swappable redundant AC or DC power supplies in a compact form factor to provide continuous functioning in mission-critical network environments. The EdgeIron 4802F features 32 MB of DRAM, providing best-in-class VLAN and MAC address scalability, while the FastIron 4802 features 128 MB of DRAM, making it an industry leader in scalability and switching capacity. Additionally, the EdgeIron 4802F offers a complete standard set of Layer 2 features, while the FastIron 4802 offers an upgrade path to full Layer 3 capabilities including BGP, OSPF and ASIC-based Multicast at Layer 3.

A Complete Solution

The EdgeIron product family complements Foundry's FastIron Layer 2/3 switches, BigIron(R) Layer 3 switches, NetIron(R) Internet routers and ServerIron(R) load balancing switches allowing Foundry to provide a single point of purchase, support and ownership for the complete solution.

"Our Enterprise customers can now deploy a complete end-to-end campus infrastructure based on Foundry products ranging from aggressively priced mid-range and advanced fixed-configuration Ethernet switches to industry-leading LAN backbone switches, high-speed WAN routers and load balancing switches," said Bobby Johnson, president and CEO of Foundry Networks. "The EdgeIron 4802F expands Foundry's high-performance product offerings, increases our addressable Enterprise market opportunity and furthers our commitment to provide Enterprise customers with a single point of purchase, support and ownership for the complete solution," continued Johnson.

Award-Winning Customer Support

All EdgeIron products are backed by Foundry's worldwide field sales and support organization, and come with differentiated service offerings, including Titanium, Platinum, Gold and Bronze service contract options. Foundry received top honors with an Editor's Choice award from Web Hosting magazine recently for the best customer service.

Raising the Bar in Price/Performance

Foundry is raising the bar in price and performance by offering the EdgeIron 4802F starting at a base U.S. list price of $3,745 that includes 48 10/100 ports, one AC power supply and full Layer 2 functionality (base price excludes Gigabit uplinks). The U.S list price is $445 for each 1000BaseSX Gigabit uplink and $995 for each 1000BaseLX Gigabit uplink.

Availability

Foundry's EdgeIron 4802F product is generally available now.

About Foundry Networks

Foundry Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq:FDRY) is a performance and total solutions leader for end-to-end switching and routing including Layer 2/3 LAN switches, Layer 3 Backbone switches, Layer 4-7 Web switches and Internet routers. Foundry's 3,750+ 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. Some of these customers include: AOL (NYSE:AOL), EarthLink, China Telecom, MSN (Nasdaq:MSFT), Verio, Cable & Wireless (NYSE:CWP), Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO), Incyte Genomics, Inc. (Nasdaq:INCY), Deutsche Bank, The University of Washington, University of Miami, Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (INRIA) of France, The British Library, U.S. Army, Air Force and Navy, NASA and the National Space Development Agency of Japan. For more information about the company and its products, call 1.888.TURBO.LAN or visit www.foundrynetworks.com.

Note to Editors: Foundry Networks, EdgeIron, NetIron, SeverIron, BigIron and FastIron are trademarks of Foundry Networks, Inc.