XLNT announces Millennium; Gigabit Ethernet switch integrates wire-speed switching into a flexible, fault tolerant architecture.SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 21, 1997--Millennium 4000 debuts at NetWorld + Interop XLNT XLNT Excellent a leading designer of networking technologies Monday announced Millennium, a family of Gigabit Ethernet An Ethernet standard that transmits at 1 Gbps. Used mostly to connect high-end workstations and servers as well as for network backbones, Gigabit Ethernet transmits full duplex from point to point using switches and half duplex in a shared environment (CSMA/CD) using a hub. switching solutions. The Millennium 4000, the first to debut, is a scaleable switch featuring a media independent, five-slot chassis that supports switched 10Mbps Ethernet, 100Mbps Fast Ethernet An earlier name for 100Mbps Ethernet. See 100Base-T. (networking) Fast Ethernet - A version of Ethernet developed in the 1990s(?) which can carry 100 Mbps compared with standard Ethernet's 10 Mbps. It requires upgraded network cards and hubs. , 1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet and FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) Often pronounced "fiddy," it was a LAN and MAN access method that had its heyday in the mid-1990s. FDDI was an ANSI standard token passing network that transmitted 100 Mbps over optical fiber up to 10 kilometers. connectivity. A Gigabit Ethernet Migration for FDDI Backbones XLNT's Millennium 4000 is best applied to users searching for a migration path from their FDDI backbone and a scaleable solution to shared and switched Ethernet An Ethernet network that is controlled by a switch instead of a shared hub. The switch cross connects all clients, servers and network devices, giving each sending-receiving pair the full rated transmission speed. infrastructures. With Millennium, users have at their discretion, the option of replacing their FDDI backbone with a fault tolerant The ability to continue non-stop when a hardware failure occurs. A fault-tolerant system is designed from the ground up for reliability by building multiples of all critical components, such as CPUs, memories, disks and power supplies into the same computer. Gigabit Ethernet backbone or increasing performance utilizing FDDI switches. This flexible approach reduces the complexity created by multiple FDDI-based networks, unifies the network topology See topology. , and enables a cohesive and cost-effective architecture for enterprise backbone networks. The Millennium 4000 is a high-performance scaleable LAN switch A network device that cross-connects clients, servers and network devices. Also known as a "frame switch," stand-alone LAN switches are common in all Ethernet networks. A four-port switch is also typically built into a wired or wireless router for homes and small business (see wireless providing cost-effective switching options Switching options A sequence of transactions in which exercise of one option creates one or more additional options. Investment-disinvestment, entry-exit, expansion-contraction, and suspension-reactivation decisions are switching options. to over-congested backbones and super-workgroup applications. By preserving current network topologies, network managers can simply add a Millennium switch to their environment and get instant connectivity to multiple legacy LAN An older local area network. It typically refers to Token Ring and FDDI, but may also refer to a slow 10 Mbps Ethernet. See legacy network. technologies. "In the last two to three years, there has been a revolution in the corporate backbone. With more cross departmental sharing of information and servers, the backbone is being stressed beyond its capabilities," said Fazil Osman, chief technical officer of XLNT. "Most corporate backbones today are FDDI based. XLNT is the only vendor that can help migrate that backbone to a higher performance fault-tolerant Gigabit Ethernet backbone while maintaining their existing investment." Resilient Gigabit Ethernet Networks Millennium guarantees a high level of network availability for support of mission critical applications by delivering the most fault tolerant solutions in the industry. The Millennium architecture addresses fault tolerance See fault tolerant. (architecture) fault tolerance - 1. The ability of a system or component to continue normal operation despite the presence of hardware or software faults. This often involves some degree of redundancy. 2. at the system, port and network levels through the judicious use of redundancy and system design. This release of the Millennium 4000 includes N+I load sharing power supplies, redundant fans and fault-tolerant control processor modules. In addition, the Millennium product line supports "Dual Homing" for Gigabit Ethernet and FDDI utilizing redundant links and cross-module redundancy to enable instantaneous activation of a standby link based upon any active port or link failure. "By building a scaleable fault tolerant switch, we allow network managers to create exactly the kind of high-performance Gigabit switch configuration they need," explained Bill Atkinson, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of XLNT. "For the thousands of companies with installed FDDI, Millennium 4000 can preserve network assets and provide a switching platform that enhances the performance of the entire network." "XLNT's product strategy is well aligned with the market's requirements on two counts," commented Kathryn Korostoff, president of Sage Research (Natick, Mass.). "First, the combination of Gigabit, Fast Ethernet, and FDDI switching leverages the fact that most organizations that have FDDI already have at least some Fast Ethernet in place. Second, our research finds that FDDI customers are extremely concerned about network reliability," Korostoff said. "Dual-homing will really appeal to these customers." Millennium 4000 The 4000 series has a modular five-slot chassis that delivers Scaleable wire-speed switching and low latency performance through a 6.4 Gigabit per second backplane for legacy LAN technologies. The Millennium 4000 is based upon a distributed switching platform that was specifically designed to meet the demands for speed, resiliency and bandwidth management found in backbone applications. Gigabit Ethernet Module The Millennium Gigabit Ethernet board is a single slot module that can be added to the Millennium chassis offering high-speed connectivity to servers, workstations or to other Millennium chassis switches. The module provides 1Gbps data throughput by using a 1000BaseSX uplink based on XLNT's high-performance switching fabric. Millennium's Gigabit Ethernet Module is designed to support full-compliance of 802.3z standard upon its approval. Gigabit Ethernet Buffered Distributor Module The Gigabit Ethernet eight-port Buffered Distributor allows connectivity to other GbE devices using a full duplex GbE link. This approach efficiently shares 1Gbps of bandwidth without the performance degradation normally associated with the CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection) The LAN access method used in Ethernet. When a device wants to gain access to the network, it checks to see if the network is quiet (senses the carrier). function of lower speed Ethernet. Shared and Switched FDDI Module The FDDI switching module transparently links shared network resources such as file servers and application servers that need a full 100Mbps connection. A dedicated high-performance RISC processor on the FDDI port results in high forwarding rates from the FDDI dual rings. Network Management Millennium uses an SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) A widely used network monitoring and control protocol. Data are passed from SNMP agents, which are hardware and/or software processes reporting activity in each network device (hub, router, bridge, etc. based application built on the industry standard network management platform, HP Openview. Millennium's Network Management System provides visibility, control and diagnostics for backbone networks. A Java based browser provides access to a device from anywhere in the network for configuration and monitoring. Demonstration, Availability and Pricing Millennium will debut at the NetWorld + Interop Show Las Vegas in XLNT's booth #1247 and will also be shown in the GEA GEA - Graph Extended ALGOL. Extension of ALGOL 60 for graph manipulation, on UNIVAC 1108. "A Language for Treating Graphs", S. Crespi-Reghizzi et al, CACM 13(5) (May 1970). Booth #5317. The first beta units will be available in June with the First Customer Ship (FCS FCS - Frame Check Sequence ) slated for third quarter. Pricing for the Millennium product will be announced concurrent with FCS. About XLNT XLNT is dedicated to making corporate networks faster and more robust than ever before. In fact, since 1989, the company has staked its reputation on building the finest quality products for the major networking vendors. Now XLNT has built one with its name on it -- Millennium 4000, the solution for migrating to Gigabit Ethernet and beyond. XLNT is a steering committee member of the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance and an active member in the 802.3z committee. The company remains privately held with headquarters in San Diego. CONTACT: XLNT Barbara Hurst, 619/487-9320 or The Townsend Agency Susan Eppel, 619/457-4888 |
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