ODS Announces Switched Ethernet Priced Less Than Shared Ethernet; Includes Fast Ethernet, ATM, Advanced Management, Fault Tolerance, and Security.

RICHARDSON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 16, 1996--Optical Data Systems, Inc. (ODS), (NASDAQ-NMS: ODSI) today announced a new family of aggressively priced switched Ethernet and switched Fast Ethernet modules which for the first time offer per port switching that costs less per port than shared.

This is a milestone step forward in the industry's move toward switched networks - no longer will budgets require purchases of shared solutions. This product represents all of the characteristics of an ideal switch: wire speed (ASIC based) performance, fault tolerance, 7 Layer management based on RMON and RMON-2, scalability from small to large (12-352 port) applications, high network security, support of all industry standards (Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, ATM, FDDI, Token Ring), and a very low price per port. These new ODS switched solutions are unique as the only switches currently available which offer full RMON-1 (all 9 groups) as well as RMON-2 (pre-standard) functionality on every port. These ODS switched solutions have better management than is available in most shared product offerings. Our full 7 Layer traffic analysis with RMON-1 and RMON-2, will allow network managers to optimally configure VLANs. ODS' list price of $230 per port for its new Ethernet (10Mbps) switch module makes the cost- per-port less than ODS' list price for a comparable shared Ethernet port. ODS is also introducing aggressively priced Fast Ethernet (100Mbps) switch modules at a list price of $600 per port.

"Switched Ethernet for the price of shared sends a powerful signal to the market that ODS intends to lead the way in the switched Ethernet market," said Ward Paxton President and CEO for ODS. "In addition to an attractive price-per-port, our advanced 7 Layer traffic analysis, security, and VLAN capabilities will clearly set ODS apart from the competition when it comes to properly managing a switched network with features that add real value," continued Paxton.

Three new Ethernet Switching and two new switch management modules are being introduced by ODS - they include a 32 port 10BaseT Ethernet Switching module, a 24 port 10BaseT module that includes 2 100BaseTX ports for high-speed uplinks and servers, a 12 port Fast Ethernet Switching module, an SNMP/RMON management module and the remote VLAN management module that includes VLAN/SNMP/RMON capabilities as well as supporting 100BaseTX, FDDI or ATM OC3 high-speed uplink ports.

The ODS design philosophy preserves customers networking investments, and does not force customers to purchase a new switch chassis in order to take advantage of new technologies. ODS designed this new Switch family to be backwardly compatible with all ODS Infinity platforms shipped since the Infinity was introduced in 1993. This scaleable solution set cost effectively supports scaling of user ports from 12 to 384 in each switch. (384 ports represents the industry's largest scaleable switch.) Across the entire product line -- full featured management, port level security, a wide choice of uplinks, and cost effectiveness is preserved. Ethernet and Fast Ethernet ports support full duplex modes, doubling throughput, as well as the older standard half-duplex operation.

Wire speed performance and 100% fault tolerance -----------------------------------------------

These modules offer a new standard in performance and reliability. Every port will perform at wire speed due to fully embedded ASIC based switching logic, with no central controller or shared memory module. This is unique in the industry - there is no single point of failure in our switching fabric. As a further step in 100 percent fail-safe switch operation, each module attaches to two fully redundant data buses. Competitive designs force all user modules to share a single common bus, causing catastrophic failure should any module tie up the shared bus. The new ODS switch architecture overcomes the single bus failure design flaw for a price far less than non-redundant designs. This product is a rare mixture of the best features at a price far less than lesser products. Redundant management modules are currently supported, but no management modules are required for switch operation.

Uplink Port Options -------------------

Network designers have a choice of a wide variety of uplink solutions using Switched Ethernet, Switched Fast Ethernet backbones, ATM backbones, or traditional FDDI backbones to interconnect this comprehensive switch family. Any switched Ethernet or Fast Ethernet port (or redundant switched ports) can be turned into uplink ports. This feature is designed to interconnect the switches or to connect the switch to redundant routers if necessary. Redundant uplink ports are supported for hot-standby reliability. In all cases, remote VLANs are supported across all backbone technologies, allowing multicast access to remote servers.

Unequaled Traffic Analysis and Diagnostics ------------------------------------------

"Switches must include comprehensive and modular management functions with the first purchase," said Joe Head Senior Vice President for ODS. "Unlike the previous generation of competitor's lightly managed shared hubs (that forced users to patch management deficiencies with external RMON probes), there is simply no way to place probes on a switched network apart from purchasing a $2,700 management probe for every $200 switched port. "This means that it is very important that the switch fabric contain all of the RMON-1, RMON-2 and 7 Layer Protocol Analysis functionality required to manage traffic," Head continued.

Top-of-the-Line VLAN Management -------------------------------

ODS' VLAN capabilities address many of the challenging issues that must be faced in a switched Ethernet networking environment. For example, ODS' VLAN capabilities allow VLAN assignments to be made based on Port, MAC address, IP address, protocol, user login, user traffic patterns, and custom filter based VLAN assignments.

"Our extensive VLAN investment will allow ODS customers to manage their Switched Ethernet networks smarter and more efficiently than they could with any other vendors switching solution," Paxton remarked.

Security Features -----------------

Configurable security features allow managers to prevent unauthorized access to the network. Port level security may be enabled on any ports to prevent unauthorized access. When enabled, the port level security feature will automatically disable any port an unauthorized user tries to communicate through.

For customers who need to protect sensitive or classified data, 100 percent port switching is the only way to prevent others from hearing sensitive network traffic. If the data is not addressed to you it can never be seen. Our 7 Layer traffic analysis capabilities allow full monitoring of unauthorized Web, Internet, or internal communications.

Competitive Pricing With More Capabilities Than Anyone Else -----------------------------------------------------------

"We wanted to make sure that when we announced our switched Ethernet modules that we could not only provide Switched Ethernet for less than the price of shared, but that we could also have more features and capabilities than any other vendor can offer," Paxton said. "We believe that this new switched Ethernet product line delivers both the price and the features to clearly set ODS ahead of the competition," Paxton remarked.

SNMP, RMON I and RMON II Management -----------------------------------

The ODS 1094-ISNC Switched network Controller provides SNMP management access, MIB II plus full support for all nine groups of RMON I and the last pre-standard implementation of RMON II. (Full RMON-2 support will soon be available via a simple field firmware upgrade.)

Our packet capture and protocol decode capability allows full 7 Layer protocol decode capability of traffic captured on any VLAN segment or Ethernet switch port. "In order for us to provide true SNMP and RMON management of our new switching modules we actually designed integral RMON statistics counters into the hardware on each port," said Paxton. This feature will allow for full featured Ethernet analysis by distributing the statistic gathering to each port. "By distributing the network management to each port we can provide the same high level of management which customers have come to expect from ODS shared Ethernet solutions," concluded Paxton.

Pricing and Availability ------------------------

Pricing and availability for ODS' new Ethernet switching and management modules is listed below. -0-

Part Number Availability Price Description

----------- ------------ ------- -----------

1094-IS-32BT Now $ 7,390 32 Port 10BaseT

Ethernet Switch Module

1094-IS-24BT-2TX Now $ 9,100 24 Port 10BaseT, 2 Port

100BaseTX Ethernet

Switch Module

1094-IS-12TX Now $ 7,200 12 Port 100BaseTX Fast

Ethernet Switch Module

1094-ISNC-1BT Now $ 6,000 Switched Ethernet SNMP

and RMON Management

Module

1094-IS-VLAN-HS-4TX Now $10,800 Remote VLAN module,

also supports 100BaseTX,

FDDI or ATM OC3

High-Speed-Uplink

-0-

Optical Data Systems, Inc. (ODS) --------------------------------

ODS sells a full range of intelligent switches; high-speed multi- protocol routers, bridges and sophisticated network management solutions to large corporations that build very large and advanced enterprise-wide information internetworks including LANs, MANs and WANs. Its mainstay product, the ODS Infinity intelligent switch, is the largest switch on the market that supports all four of the industry standards -- Ethernet, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Token Ring and Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDI). The Infinity switch provides superior local and remote SNMP-based management that supports all groups of RMON for both Ethernet and Token Ring networks. ODS can be reached at 214/234-6400 or on the Internet at http://www.ods.com. -0-

TRADEMARKS: ODS and ODS Infinity are trademarks of Optical Data Systems. Other trademarks are owned by their respective companies. ODS does not determine whether every mark used by another is considered a trademark. The presence or absence of a trademark identifier is not a representation that no third party claims trademark rights in a particular mark.

CONTACT: Optical Data Systems, Inc.

Joe Head, Senior V.P.

or Terry Gaston, V.P. Marketing, 214/234-6400

or Fax: [phone],

or ODS Home Page: http://www.ods.com.