Foundry Networks and Compaq Cooperate to Deliver Web Caching Solutions.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 19, 2000

Joint Engineering and Marketing Efforts Deliver Enhanced Web

Caching Solution to Enterprises and Service Providers

Foundry Networks,(TM) Inc. (Nasdaq:FDRY), a leader in high performance end-to-end switching and routing solutions, today announced joint engineering and marketing activities with Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE:CPQ), the second largest computer company in the world and the largest global supplier of computer systems. Foundry and Compaq will provide leading price/performance Internet caching infrastructure solutions by combining Foundry's industry leading ServerIron(TM) family of Internet Traffic Management switches and Compaq's caching appliance, the TaskSmart C-Series server.

These products work together to provide enterprises and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) enhanced caching solutions to meet the increasing demands of today's Internet traffic explosion. Foundry's ServerIron family of Internet Traffic Management switches, used in conjunction with Compaq's TaskSmart C-Series servers, provide customers with outstanding service availability, performance, scalability and cost savings. Extensive integration and testing of the ServerIron product family with the TaskSmart server was performed to enable a smooth customer deployment of the joint solution. In addition, thorough performance tests demonstrated that the joint solution held up to both companies' high standards for operation performance across enterprise-and Internet-scale network loads. Compaq and Foundry's joint marketing activities to support this alliance include development of deployment guides and solutions papers.

Compaq's TaskSmart C-Series

The TaskSmart C-Series server (www.compaq.com/TaskSmart) is the first member of the Compaq TaskSmart family of appliance servers. TaskSmart C-Series server technology is designed to enhance organizations' e-Business solutions by allowing more of their customers and users to access the Internet smarter and faster than with any other caching solution available. These servers are tuned and optimized to deliver blazing-fast Internet caching performance, enabling customers to dramatically accelerate delivery of Web content, enhance Web server farm efficiency, improve users' Web experience, and delay costly network bandwidth upgrades.

"Compaq is focused on enabling customers to more rapidly and effectively deploy and manage their Internet infrastructures. Compaq works closely with industry leaders such as Foundry to develop Nonstop eBusiness solutions that enable customers to leverage the Internet into business advantage," said John Young, Compaq's Vice President of Tasksmart Servers. "By combining the blazing-fast performance of our TaskSmart C-Series servers with Foundry's industry leading ServerIron family, Compaq and Foundry have created a Web caching solution that is easy to set up, deploy, and manage, and saves customers time and money," continued Young.

Foundry Networks' ServerIron Family

Foundry's ServerIron family of Internet Traffic Management switches provide high performance Layer 4 through 7 switching, enabling network managers to control and manage today's exploding Web transaction, Web application and eCommerce traffic flows. Internet IronWare(TM), Foundry's unique software suite of Internet traffic management capabilities, powers ServerIronXL, ServerIronXL/G, BigServerIron (a simple software upgrade to the BigIron chassis) and Foundry's new ServerIron400 and ServerIron800 chassis-based switches (with Layer 2/3 switching) to direct requests to the right server and application based on the information that resides beyond the traditional Layer 2 and Layer 3 packet headers. The ServerIron family of switches ease escalating Internet traffic overload, reduce the burden of server farm management, and allow the entire Web facility to scale to its fullest potential.

"Pairing Foundry's feature rich ServerIron Internet Traffic Management switches with Compaq's TaskSmart C-Series server is a winning combination," said Ken Cheng, Vice President of Marketing for Foundry Networks. "The combination will provide a world class Web caching solution that gives our customers outstanding reliability, performance, scalability and cost savings," continued Cheng.

Built on Foundry's IronCore(TM) ASIC designs and switch-based platforms, ServerIron enables Internet traffic switching based on Layer 4 through Layer 7 information. ServerIron delivers industry leading performance for Internet traffic management functions including local and global server load balancing, firewall load balancing, transparent cache switching, application redirection, packet filtering and prioritization, and support for content-intelligent switching such as cookie, URL, and SSL Session ID-based redirection and load balancing. Furthermore, ServerIron provides the foundation for high service availability, disaster recovery, location and server transparency, backbone cost control, and a consistent user experience.

About Foundry Networks

Foundry Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq:FDRY) is a leader in high performance end-to-end switching and routing solutions including Internet routers, Layer 2/3 switches and Layer 4-7 Internet Traffic Management switches. Foundry products are installed in the world's largest ISPs including AOL (NYSE:AOL), EarthLink (Nasdaq:ELNK), AT&T WorldNet, MSN, and Cable & Wireless (NYSE:CWP). Foundry products are also installed in large enterprises, entertainment, pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies as well as e-commerce sites, universities and government organizations. Some of these customers include: The University of Washington, LucasFilm, Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO), LTV Steel (NYSE:LTV), Incyte Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:INCY), U.S. Army, Air Force and Navy, NASA and NIH. For more information about the company and its products, call 1.888/TURBO.LAN or visit our web site at www.foundrynetworks.com.

Note to Editors: Foundry Networks, ServerIron, IronCore and IronWare are trademarks of Foundry Networks, Inc. All other trademarks are the sole property of their respective holders.