SMC Brings Classroom Connectivity to Portland Public Schools; From the Backbone to the Classroom, SMC Products Are Connecting Portland, Ore.'s Students and Teachers.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 2003

SMC Networks (www.smc.com), the company that takes the work out of networks with high-performance, easy-to-use connectivity products for business and home, today announced that its managed and unmanaged switches were selected by Portland Public School District to deliver Fast Ethernet connectivity to classrooms and offices in the district's 107 facilities.

TigerSwitch(TM) 6+2-port Gigabit fiber switches manage high-speed, high bandwidth connections from the multi-facility backbone to IDF closets in the district's schools, where they connect to the Gigabit uplinks on stacks of high-performance 24+2 port SMC TigerStack(TM) II 10/100 Managed Switches (SMC6624M) and 48+1 port TigerSwitch 10/100 (SMC-6750L2) switches. The SMC-6624M and SMC-6750L2 switches then relay the connection to classrooms and offices, where SMC-EZ6508TX 8-port 10/100 switches distribute the connectivity to the desktop.

"We found SMC to be a good alternative to Cisco based on cost, reliability and performance," said Scott Robinson, chief technology officer for the Portland Public School District.

Steve Hufford, the district's technical operations manager, added, "We've been able to seamlessly integrate Cisco and SMC equipment into our infrastructure, and the implementation of an SMC solution has allowed us to considerably lower our network equipment costs."

"We are pleased to have been able to offer Portland Public School District a high-performance Gigabit workgroup solution at a fraction of the cost of the competitors' solutions, and integration with legacy Cisco products was a breeze," said Tom Rizol SMC's vice president, sales and marketing. "So far, the project has brought more than 7,000 Fast Ethernet connections to desktops in the district, and we look forward to continuing to work with Portland Public Schools as they expand and enhance the network and their use of it in the classrooms."

Perfect for the task, each feature-rich TigerSwitch 1000 (SMC8606SX) provides eights ports of managed 1000BASE-SX backbone connectivity via its six fixed ports with two additional via the GBIC slots. Designed to handle heavy traffic workgroups and high-bandwidth applications, the switch is capable of reaching up to 16Gbps with a non-blocking switching architecture. Its management features include port trunking, VLANs, GVRP, and priority queuing for consistently reliable operation. Closer to the classroom, TigerStack II 10/100 (SMC-6624M) and TigerSwitch 10/100 (SMC-6750L2) managed switches distribute ultra-fast, high-performance efficiency. The 24 fixed 10/100 ports on the SMC-6624M and the 48 fixed ports on the SMC-6709L2 support auto-MDIX 10/100 connections with a non-blocking switch fabric of 9.6Gbps and 13.6Gbps, respectively. Portland Public School District used one of each unit's expansion slots for Gigabit fiber uplink to the SMC8606SX. The SMC TigerStack II provides the traffic security and network bandwidth efficiency that classroom connectivity demands, and its integrated Web-based management configuration system makes it easy to install and use. Easy to use and cost-effective, SMC's SMC-EZ6508TX EZ Hub(TM) 10/100 auto-sensing, dual-speed switches are perfect for desktop connectivity distribution.

About SMC Networks

SMC takes the work out of networks, with high-performance, easy-to-use connectivity products for businesses and homes. Leveraging its more than 30 years market and technology experience with strong attention to end-user and reseller feedback, SMC Networks has set the standards for quality, reliability, ease of use and affordability in network solutions and components. The company continues to bring to market a host of affordable, high-performance products that benefit from the combination of its strong internal R&D resources, global manufacturing resources and strategic relationships with technology innovators. From basic to leading-edge, SMC Networks' portfolio of products provides solutions for small- to medium-sized businesses, corporate workgroups, branch offices, and home and small office environments.

The company's commitment to providing unsurpassed service with a personal touch is backed up by limited lifetime warranties and 24/7 technical support for all of SMC's products. Headquartered in Irvine, SMC Networks supports its worldwide market through regional offices located throughout the United States and 20 other countries. For more information about SMC Networks or its products, visit www.smc.com, or call 800/SMC-4You (800/762-4968).