Juniper Networks Announces JUNOS, First Routing Operating System for High-growth Internet Backbone Networks.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 1, 1998--

In Trials with World's Leading ISPs including @Home, MCI, UUNET,

and Verio since January

Juniper Networks Inc. today announced JUNOS Internet software, the industry's first routing operating system designed specifically for the routing and operational needs of the fastest-growing Internet backbone networks with features that are on the leading edge of developing standards for traffic engineering and control.

JUNOS provides fundamental advances to the reliability of the Internet and its ongoing evolution as the public data network. The software has been in trials with the world's leading Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and communications companies.

JUNOS offers a complete set of Internet-tested, Internet-scale, and standards-compliant routing protocols, as well as the first implementation of the emerging Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) standard for traffic engineering of backbone networks. In addition, JUNOS offers the most advanced monitoring and configuration management features designed to facilitate the reliable operation of very large networks in an environment of rapid growth. Finally, JUNOS features a unique modular, protected memory design that ensures greater reliability and facilitates faster introduction of new features.

"JUNOS has been designed with extensive ISP input and solely focuses on their requirements for controlling rapid Internet backbone growth," said Scott Kriens, president and CEO of Juniper Networks. "Based on our unique Internet expertise and experience working with Internet backbone providers, we have designed a new generation of software that will give backbone providers reliable control which will enable a new level of Internet performance."

The JUNOS software operates today on the routing engine of a forthcoming Internet backbone router to be delivered by Juniper Networks later this year.

Internet-Ready, Internet-Tested

The company also announced that the JUNOS software has been extensively tested in both lab and live Internet environments by the world's leading ISPs and telecom equipment providers since January of this year. These companies include @Home Networks, Ericsson, MCI Communications, Worldcom's UUNET Technologies, and Verio Inc.

"High performance networking is not just a matter of advanced hardware but software which affects new traffic management and class of service features and which provides for compatibility with equipment of other vendors," said Vint Cerf, senior vice president, Internet architecture and engineering, MCI Communications. "MCI has been testing the Juniper software and, thus far, has been very impressed with its capability. MCI looks forward to determining the suitability of the Juniper products to meet its advanced, high performance networking needs."

Extensive operational exposure ensures that JUNOS is fully compatible with the protocols and de facto standards that control the Internet backbone, allowing seamless introduction of forthcoming Juniper systems into complex Internet backbone environments.

Reliable Software Control for Backbone Providers

The ongoing explosive growth of the Internet requires constant software innovation to adapt to new scaling challenges and new functionality. To meet the 7x24 service requirements of ISPs, vendors must be equipped to solve complex software problems immediately. JUNOS provides all of the routing tools that Internet backbone providers need to operate their networks and manage network growth, including: -0-

--   A full Border Gateway Protocol Version 4 (BGP4) implementation,
     with confederations, route reflectors, communities, route flap
     damping, and the MD5 message-digest algorithm authentication
     option for TCP, for controlling the exchange of route information
     with other providers.

--   Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS) and Open
     Shortest Path First (OSPF) link-state protocol implementations
     for maintaining router connectivity within ISP networks.

--   Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP) and Protocol
     Independent Multicast (PIM) protocols for controlling multicast
     traffic. Flexible policy software for filtering and modifying
     route information exchanged between providers.

--   A new generation of traffic engineering tools based on the
     emerging MPLS standard.

-0-

All protocols are in conformance with existing protocol standards as defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and as deployed in existing backbone provider networks.

"We have the Juniper software in our production network now," said Randy Bush, founder and director of network engineering at Verio, a rapidly growing ISP. "JUNOS has been able to handle the complex routing policies we need in OSPF, IS-IS, and BGP4--using sophisticated features only now making their way through the IETF. Juniper clearly understands the challenges that high-growth ISPs face with respect to complex routing."

First MPLS Implementation for Traffic Engineering of Backbone Networks

JUNOS delivers the first implementation of MPLS for the purpose of traffic engineering in Internet backbone networks. MPLS offers the traffic visibility and control of Permanent Virtual Circuits (PVCs), but without the scaling problems of joining a flat switched core to a routed network layer. Traffic engineering with MPLS provides a highly scaleable framework for ISPs to manage growth and provides the control foundation on which other value-added services -- such as differentiated classes of service and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) -- can ultimately be offered over the Internet backbone.

Protected, Modular Design Ensures Reliability in High-Growth Environment

JUNOS is based on a unique modular architecture with separate programs running in protected memory space on top of an independent operating system. Unlike monolithic, unprotected operating systems which are prone to system-wide failure, the protected, modular approach improves reliability by ensuring that modifications made to one module have no unwanted side effects on other sections of the software. Having clean interfaces between modules facilitates software development, enabling faster deployment of new features. In addition, since the JUNOS software was designed specifically for ISPs, it streamlines the testing required for the introduction of new features.

Monitoring and Configuration Management for High-Growth Internet Backbones

The ongoing growth of the Internet poses an additional scaling challenge in terms of managing the ever more complex configurations of routers in the Internet core. In addition to interoperability with existing management tools such as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and the syslog system logging facility, JUNOS brings a number of features that offer operators greater reliability by lowering the opportunity for misconfiguration and operator error. User error is frequently cited as the greatest reason for network downtime.

The philosophy of JUNOS configuration tools is to pretest complex changes before applying them to a live environment, and to be resilient if failures occur during complex configuration changes. JUNOS offers the ability to test policy configurations off-line before they are applied to the live network. JUNOS also offers a smooth, script friendly reconfiguration function, which allows operators to apply configuration changes in logical blocks. If the new configuration contains an error, the software automatically reverts back to the initial configuration. JUNOS also features syntactical and semantic checks of configurations before they are applied.

"Software is the key to being able to run a true core backbone of the Internet," said Milo Medin, senior vice president of engineering and chief technology officer of @Home Networks. "Not only does Juniper implement routing protocols with all the needed esoteric extensions that Internet backbones critically depend on, but they have added excellent management capabilities which will yield higher levels of reliability and robustness in provisioning and operation. Our testing of the JUNOS software has convinced us that Juniper is a very viable platform for the Internet backbone. While many new entrants are appearing, only Juniper has the software to actually operate in the core of the Internet."

The JUNOS Advantage

Internet backbone providers are under pressure to scale their networks quickly to unprecedented sizes. New technologies and fiber deployment, coupled with the advent of faster forwarding engines will make this growth possible, but only with the proper software tools to manage the operational challenges of extremely large networks. JUNOS software has been developed specifically to meet these challenges. Development talent, extensive experience, and innovative JUNOS software design combine to form a reliable foundation from Juniper Networks, on which providers can base new growth.

About Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks, based in Mountain View, California, was founded in February 1996, to design, develop and deliver integrated hardware and software solutions for the Internet that address the scalability, performance and quality issues of continuous and explosive growth.

CONTACT: Stirling & Karbo Inc.

Cynthia Stirling, 650/513-0972

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JoAnn Johnston, 650/322-6245

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