3Com rides the Gigabit bus
By Ben Heskett
April 4, 1997, 6:15 a.m. PT
Hoping to capitalize on its Ethernet roots, 3Com
(COMS) will roll out a slew of gear on Monday
based on the emerging Gigabit Ethernet standard,
according to industry sources.
Gigabit Ethernet rollouts will continue throughout the
first half of this year and beyond, dominated by a
plethora of start-up firms who want to get their
names out before the market is saturated with
products.
3Com, one of the creators of Ethernet networking
technology, may feel a responsibility to enter the
market early to live up to its history as a pioneer in
the area, according to industry observers.
3Com will introduce a new Gigabit Ethernet switch,
two modules for existing Ethernet-based gear, an
interface card for the company's ATM
(asynchronous transfer mode) gear, and an interface
card for PC servers.
3Com will also provide support for Gigabit Ethernet
in its Fast IP internetworking software for layouts
based on the Web's dominant communications
protocol. Through the umbrella TranscendWare set
of services, the gigabit-speed pipe will also be
supported, providing levels of service enhancements
to a network.
The new SuperStack II Switch 9000 SX includes
eight switched Gigabit ports. A module for the
popular SuperStack II 3000 10/100-mbps Ethernet
model ties gigabit into an existing Ethernet-based
network topology. Another module for the
CoreBuilder 5000 ties Gigabit Ethernet into existing
ATM or Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI)
networks.
The announcement is a milestone for the emerging
gigabit standard, according to analysts, since none
of the major networking players have yet to
articulate a gigabit migration strategy that can match
3Com's. "They offer a lot of different ways to
integrate Gigabit Ethernet into networks," according
to an industry source.
The Gigabit Ethernet standard is heading for a vote
by the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance this summer, with
final approval from the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers due in early 1998.
The SuperStack II Switch 9000 SX and the Gigabit
Ethernet Module SX are priced at $19,995 and
$2,995, respectively, and will ship in the third
quarter. A CoreBuilder 7800 Gigabit Ethernet card
that takes gigabit into ATM networks will cost
$18,000 and will ship in the fourth quarter. The
CoreBuilder 5000 Gigabit Ethernet module will be
priced at $5,000 and will ship in the first quarter of
next year.
A gigabit-speed PCI-based network interface card
(NIC) will also ship in the third quarter of this year.
3Com's internetworking software modules for
Gigabit Ethernet will be available at the company's
Web site starting in the third quarter.
Start-up Prominet is also expected to introduce
Gigabit Ethernet gear on Monday. |
