Trapeze Smart Mobile Shatters Wi-Fi(R) Performance and Reliability Barriers, Outclassing Cisco and Aruba Networks in Large-Enterprise Deployments.

Introduces Industry's First 28 Gbps Controller and Always-On, Non-stop Wireless

PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Trapeze Networks[R], the award-winning provider of Smart Mobile[TM] wireless solutions, today announced the second phase of Smart Mobile, supporting the largest-scale enterprise wireless LAN deployments and mission-critical applications through a new generation of high-performance software and hardware. As Wi-Fi rapidly becomes an essential part of enterprise network infrastructures--not just a convenience--it must meet a demanding new set of requirements. With the capabilities being introduced in phase two of Smart Mobile, Trapeze becomes the first and only vendor to address these requirements, delivering performance, scalability, and reliability on par with today's largest and most advanced wired networks.

Phase two of Smart Mobile includes three new components:

* Highest-performance WLAN controller - the Mobility Exchange[R] 2800 (MX[R]-2800), the industry's first and only 28 Gbps WLAN controller;

* Industry-leading wireless availability, reliability, and scalability - advanced enterprise enhancements to Trapeze's Mobility System[R] Software (MSS[TM]); and

* Highest-performance 802.11n access point - the Mobility Point[R] 432 (MP[R]-432), providing the industry's smoothest, most cost-effective migration path to 802.11n.

"For the first time, the enterprise will be able to deploy wireless networks that are equal to or exceed wired networks in every respect--scalability, performance, security, and reliability--but at dramatically lower capital and operating costs," said Jim Vogt, CEO, Trapeze Networks. "With this announcement, Trapeze continues to lead the industry in technology vision, confirming our position as best-of-breed provider of enterprise wireless solutions."

Highest Performing WLAN Controller

The MX-2800 is the highest-capacity controller announced by any WLAN vendor to date, providing 28 Gbps of throughput via two 10 Gigabit and eight Gigabit ports. (By comparison, for example, Aruba Networks' 6000 model provides only six Gbps and Cisco's Catalyst 6500 WiSM provides only eight Gbps.) It supports 512 active access points (APs), and 12,000 active client devices--such as laptops, Wi-Fi phones, active RFID tags, etc.--more than any other in the industry.

"While we are extremely pleased to introduce the MX-2800, the industry's highest capacity WLAN controller, it's important to point out that our Smart Mobile architecture continues to provide customers the choice to locally or centrally switch their wireless network traffic, depending on the needs of the underlying application," said Trapeze Networks chief technical officer, Dan Simone. "For instance, our customers may find that local switching provides significant performance benefits for voice over Wi-Fi, or enables them to scale to 802.11n with existing controllers. For customers who choose to centrally switch significant amounts of traffic, the MX-2800 offers an additional option."

First and Only Hardware-switched Wired and Wireless Data

The MX-2800 controller is unique in that it employs dedicated high-performance hardware to perform both wireless and wired data processing in chips expressly designed for these functions, as opposed to processing the data in software running on a general-purpose processor. As a result, it is the only WLAN switch to provide true line-rate throughput for wireless and wired data.

First and Only Always-on, Non-stop Enterprise Wi-Fi

Phase two of Smart Mobile includes Mobility System Software (MSS) enhancements that deliver the industry's only pooled redundancy, hitless failover, and zero down time in-service upgrades. Able to run on all Trapeze MX controllers, these enhancements enable all switches in the network to act collectively as a single virtual switch, which provides industry-leading resiliency. Under this approach, every switch automatically serves as back-up for any other switch in the network. This is a significant advance over competitive approaches, where each switch is a discrete resource and redundancy is limited to the number of designated stand-by switches, which sit idle until needed and therefore result in inefficient resource utilization and higher costs.

"With the availability of draft 802.11n products, there's more incentive than ever for the enterprise to make wireless LANs the default and even primary vehicle for access," said Craig Mathias, a Principal with the mobile and wireless advisory firm Farpoint Group. "Of course, that means a greater emphasis on reliability. Pooling the capacity of every switch in the network and managing that pool as a single virtually-stacked switch, is a great way to deliver the highest levels of resiliency and flexibility. Trapeze's approach can also provide the scalability required to meet ever-growing demands for wireless-LAN availability and capacity."

Hitless Failover and Auto AP Load Balancing 

Mobility System Software (MSS) enhancements in phase two of Smart Mobile extend Trapeze's already robust approach to failover and AP load balancing. With these enhancements, access points associated with a failed switch automatically and immediately failover to another available switch (or switches) in the network, without having to be reset and without any administrator effort. Failovers are completely invisible to end users, occurring so rapidly that no client connections, not even voice calls, are dropped. In addition, the network automatically optimizes AP load balancing: If switches and/or access points are added to or removed from the system, the network automatically balances AP-to-switch connections optimally, without any configuration or administrator effort, and with no interruption in service.

Zero-downtime In-service Upgrades

The enhanced MSS also enables network managers to easily upgrade switches without network downtime. As switches are taken offline for upgrading or maintenance, any affected APs are automatically remapped to other available switches, and are automatically mapped again once the upgraded switches are back online.

"We are very excited by the innovations that Trapeze is bringing in phase two of Smart Mobile," said Larry Griffith, Director of Technology Operations at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, one of the largest healthcare delivery systems in the mid-western United States. "Maintaining highly resilient networks and avoiding downtime is critical for healthcare providers, so the ability to provide 'always-on' Wi-Fi network availability is extremely valuable. By enabling these enhanced capabilities through new Mobility System Software, which will run on our existing switching infrastructure, Trapeze's approach will help us get the most value from our existing investment without requiring expensive forklift upgrades."

Highest Performance 802.11n Access Point

The dual-radio MP-432 utilizes state-of-the-art 802.11n features, such as true 3x3 multiple input/multiple output (MIMO), frame aggregation, and 40 MHz channels. It is able to simultaneously operate in both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, at 300 Mbps per band, for a total data rate of 600 Mbps. The MP-432 employs sophisticated optimization techniques to reduce overhead and dramatically improve performance. As a result, the MP-432 will deliver the highest possible performance of any 802.11n access point in the industry.

Fastest, Easiest and Lowest Cost Migration to 802.11n

Due to Smart Mobile's intelligent switching architecture, MP-432 access points can operate with existing Trapeze MX switches, enabling customers to deploy 802.11n without upgrading their switching infrastructure. In addition, the MP-432 is the only enterprise-class 802.11n access point that runs with existing 802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE), allowing customers to get immediate 802.11n performance benefits without having to upgrade their existing power sources. The MP-432 also supports the emerging high-power 802.3at PoE standard.

About Trapeze Networks

Trapeze Networks delivers Smart Mobile[TM] -- a ground-breaking approach to wireless networking, enabling organizations to deploy massively scalable mobile applications that leverage their existing infrastructure. Smart Mobile achieves this breakthrough by introducing intelligent switching, the first and only WLAN architecture that optimizes network traffic based on the underlying application. With Smart Mobile intelligent switching, organizations can support the most demanding next generation wireless applications such as toll-quality voice over WLAN for thousands of users, seamless indoor/outdoor mobility, and high-speed networks based on 802.11n -- all without requiring expensive forklift upgrades. Trapeze Networks is well-capitalized, with strategic investments from networking industry leaders including Juniper Networks, Motorola, and Nortel Networks. Founded in March 2002, Trapeze is headquartered in Pleasanton, California, with operations in Europe, Japan, and Asia-Pacific. For more information, please visit www.trapezenetworks.com.