Xylan Sets Price and Performance Leadership for IP Concentration and Multiservice Access With New NetPAC Technology for Service Providers.

CALABASAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 19, 1999--

Xylan Corporation, an Alcatel company, today introduced its Network Packet Access Concentrator (NetPAC(TM)) technology, which offers service providers breakthrough IP scalability, unparalleled port density, and Internet-strength routing -- all at the industry's lowest price per subscriber.

The NetPAC solution is designed for the multiservice access market, supporting a cost-effective transition from the WAN services of today to the Internet and VPN services of the future.

NetPAC technology is a combination of network interface modules, software, and ASICs that today are available on Xylan's Omni Switch/Router, but will soon be integrated into the full range of Xylan's NEBs-compliant platforms. Xylan will demonstrate its NetPAC technology at Networld+Interop in Las Vegas, Nevada, May 10th - 14th at booth #4751.

Compared to other access routers, NetPAC technology for the OmniS/R uniquely supports both frame relay and IP traffic aggregation. A fully configured NetPAC switch/router sets a new standard for port density and price, aggregating up to 8,000 frame relay or IP subscribers at a price per subscriber of $15 per DS-0, and $357 per DS-1. This is less than half the cost of other vendors' solutions. The NetPAC product also features Internet-strength, wire-speed routing of more than 12 million packets per second (Mpps).

"Xylan's NetPAC technology will provide a critical aggregation edge platform for Alcatel's overall next generation carrier portfolio," said Ron Westfall, carrier infrastructure analyst for Current Analysis. "The edge of the network will play an increasingly critical role in service provider rollout of differentiated value-add services such as managed VPNs and TLS services, since the mapping of IP QoS will be executed at the edge. The NetPAC technology allows Alcatel and Xylan service provider customers to effectively fulfill that role."

"This technology is an important step forward in Xylan's comprehensive approach to addressing the multi-service access market," said Mat Mathews, Xylan's director of service provider product management. "NetPAC technology enables fast-moving service providers to target a huge portion of the frame-oriented WAN access market with a best-in-class solution. The combination of our NetPAC technology with Xylan's existing multi-service access capabilities, gives CLECs and ISPs a one-stop solution for offering integrated voice, video, and data services at unbeatable prices."

Scalable high-bandwidth/high-density aggregation

The NetPAC solution includes two new IP/frame relay aggregation modules for the Omni Switch/Router, which feature two or four DS-3 (45 Mbps) ports for a maximum configuration of 32 channelized DS-3 ports per chassis. Each DS-3 port can offer a 45 Mbps clear channel, or be divided into DS-1 (1.544 Mbps) or DS-0 (64 Kbps) channels for individual PPP or frame relay users. In a central office application, a fully configured 7-foot rack of OSRs can support up to 24,576 fractional T1 terminations and up to 2,688 DS-1 connections. Multiple NetPAC-based switches can be linked via Gigabit Ethernet in a POP for truly unlimited scalability, availability, and performance.

Just as important, these modules can also be used in stackable, three- and five-slot platforms, providing cost-effective solutions for branch office or POP applications that support between 1,000-3,000 users. NetPAC is a scalable system that can be used by any size service provider and can grow as its customer base grows.

New Packet-over-SONET modules

Also announced today are Xylan's new Packet-over-SONET/SDH (POS) modules, which allow service providers to direct IP traffic directly to a SONET/SDH frame infrastructure without segmentation into ATM AAL5 cells thereby avoiding the "cell tax" overhead associated with ATM. Xylan's PSX-155 modules operate at 155 Mbps (OC-3c) and support both the SONET (STS-3) and SDH (STM-1) frame structures.

Xylan's POS modules enable service providers to easily implement and manage OC-3 backbones using PPP as the data-link protocol. Additionally, as many backbone providers are using POS technology at the core of their network, Xylan's upcoming POS solution will enable ISPs to seamlessly integrate their network into an upstream backbone provider's POS-based networks.

High-performance routing

Each NetPAC module supports Xylan's Hardware Routing Engine (HRE-X) ASIC, which offers 1.5 Mpps IP forwarding per module, with up to 12 Mpps of IP forwarding performance per switch. The HRE-X is an Internet-strength forwarding engine that works in conjunction with NetPAC technology to handle the most advanced policy-based routing environments on the Internet.

Hardware-assisted route calculation

Central to the high performance of NetPAC technology is the co-processor upgrade (COP-64MB) for the Management Processor Module (MPX). The COP-64MB adds two 100 MHz SPARC processors to the MPX and features an advanced, patent-pending, multi-processing operating system. Combined with the MPX, the co-processor gives the OmniS/R a total of 240 MIPS of processing horsepower used for calculating BGP-4 route updates for up to 256,000 entries. The route updates are calculated on the MPX and distributed to the HRE-X on each network interface module, allowing each HRE-X to forward packets at wire speed without the degradation caused by route calculations.

Policy-driven Quality of Service

An upcoming software enhancement to the NetPAC technology family will offer industry-leading Class of Service (CoS) capabilities by combining policy-driven networking with the ability to forward packets over multiple uplink types. Using Xylan's forthcoming Switched Network Services technology, a NetPAC-based switch can access server-based policy information via LDAP or RADIUS to make policy-based forwarding decisions to upstream IP and VPN services, and leverage emerging technology, such as multi-protocol label switching (MPLS).

Once Quality of Service (QoS) levels are determined, the switch can forward the data via ATM and/or Packet-over-SONET (POS) uplinks. This allows service providers to forward real-time traffic over ATM backbones with built-in QoS features; and non-real-time traffic over IP backbones with CoS support, providing maximum leverage of network investments. With Switched Network Services technology, NetPAC-based platforms can be pre-provisioned to enable centralized management and configuration in muxing, switching, or routing applications.

Pricing and availability

Base configurations for NetPAC on the OmniSwitch/Router start as low as $55,000. List price and availability for each NetPAC component is listed in the table below: -0-

Modules and Software         Part Number    List price    Avail.

Two-port Channelized
 DS3 for FR/PPP               WSX-M013-2W     $25,000     May `99

Four-port Channelized
 DS3 for FR/PPP               WSX-M013-4W     $40,000     May '99

Co-Processor Option for
 MPX with 64 MB of DRAM       COP-64 MB       $ 4,995     May `99
(For hardware assisted
 route calculation)

Hardware Routing Engine       HRE-X           $ 2,495     May `99

MPX Management Board
 with 32 MB of DRAM           MPX             $ 8,450     May `99

XOS Software Release 4.1      MPX-SW-4.1          N/C     May `99

Advanced Routing Package
 Release 4.1, includes
 OSPF, RIP-II and BGP-4      MPX-SW-AR-4.1    $ 2,000     May `99

Two-port POS
 OC-3c/STM-1 MM Fiber         PSX-155FM-2W    $16,000(a)   Q3 `99

Four-port POS
 OC-3c/STM-1 MM Fiber         PSX-155FM-4W    $32,000(a)   Q3 `99

Two-port POS
 OC-3c/STM-1 SM Fiber         PSX-155FS-2W    $20,000(a)   Q3 `99

Four-port POS
 OC-3c/STM-1 SM Fiber         PSX-155FS-4W    $40,000(a)   Q3 `99

(a)  Current budgetary pricing. Actual list price will be set prior to
     release

About Xylan

Xylan, an Alcatel company, is one of the fastest growing internetworking companies in history. For enterprise customers, Xylan's networks are so powerful that they can bypass an entire generation of network change. They combine ease of management, high performance, and easy integration with existing equipment and software. For service providers, Xylan builds equipment for high-speed multi-service VPNs. Xylan's solutions integrate broad connectivity options, advanced software for partitioning and security, and any-to-any switching. Xylan helps service providers build profitable networks. More information about Xylan and its products is available at www.xylan.com.

About Alcatel

Alcatel builds next-generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With 120,000 employees and sales of $25.0 billion, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. You can visit Alcatel on the web at www.alcatel.com.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results. Among the factors that could cause events or results to differ are uncertain market acceptance of the company's products, rapid technological change, evolving markets, product and system complexity, the timely development of new products, and intense competition in the networking industry. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Xylan with the SEC, including the company's most recent report on Form 10-K and 10-Q, which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements.

Xylan and OmniSwitch trademarks of Xylan Corporation registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Omni Switch/Router and OmniS/R are trademarks of Xylan Corporation.