NACSIS To Evaluate Pluris Terabit Router for Use in Japan's Largest Research Network.

CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 1, 1999--

Japan's National Center for Science Information Systems (NACSIS) has agreed to evaluate the Pluris 20000 Terabit Network Router (TNR) as part of the network infrastructure supporting the largest research network ever built in Japan.

As a potential part of the Japanese government's Science Information Network (SINET), the Pluris TNR would help to interconnect and provide Internet services to more than 800 universities and research institutes throughout Japan, with international links to the U.S. and Europe. SINET, which has been allocated an annual budget of $50 million, will provide such on-line applications as shared cataloguing, inter- library lending, information retrieval services and a digital library project.

NACSIS is the first Asian entity to participate in the Pluris Partner Program, under which Pluris works closely with selected customers in feature definition and equipment testing as the Pluris 20000 is brought to market.

Dr. Asano, director of NACSIS' Systems Research department, said, "With a project as ambitious as building Japan's largest research network, we must constantly explore new ways of coping with the ever increasing demand for capacity. Evaluating the Pluris TNR will give us a head start on testing the latest high-capacity networking technology in a real network environment."

Pete Wisowaty, director business development for Pluris, said, "The SINET project in Japan is comparable to the highly successful Internet2 project which ties together universities and research entities in the U.S. We are delighted to work with NACSIS and see this as an ideal example of a joint effort between Japan and the U.S. in defining and deploying next-generation Internet technologies."

The Pluris 20000, introduced in May, is a terabit IP backbone router designed to let carriers start with as little as 90 gigabits switching capacity and 10 Gbps line capacity, and grow cost-effectively to 184 Tbps non-blocking switching capacity and 19.2 Tbps line capacity. This unprecedented scalability is made possible using a fiber-optic-based, high-capacity distributed switching fabric design that interconnects nearly 2,000 line cards within a single system. The system supports high-speed OC-12c (622 Mbps), OC-48c (2.4 Gbps) and OC-192c (10-Gbps) interfaces. The Pluris 20000 will be available in the fourth quarter of 1999.

Pluris, Inc., was formed in 1996 to develop IP core telecommunications switch routers offering carrier-class availability and the long-term capacity growth that service providers will require in the next-generation scalable IP optical core. Pluris has raised $23.3 million in two rounds of venture funding from Weiss, Peck & Greer Venture Partners, Vanguard Venture Partners, Communications Ventures, Crescendo Ventures, Bay Partners, Piper Jaffray Ventures, DynaFund Ventures, Cassin Ventures, and RWI Group. For more information, call 408-863-9920 or visit the Pluris web site at www.pluris.com.