3Com unveils next steps in TranscendWare software strategy with
innovations in virtual local area networking, virtual private networking and ATM wide
area networking solutions
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 1997--Networld+Interop Booth
#3173--
Company Also Announces Tests Placing 3Com as Number
One in Fast Ethernet Switching Performance;
Significant Growth in Fast Ethernet
and ATM Product Shipments
At the 1997 Networld+Interop Show today, 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq:COMS)
today unveiled innovative new technologies
that give corporations more control over the behavior and the overall cost of
ownership of their data and multi-media networks.
The innovations announced today are the next step in the company's TranscendWare
networking software strategy. This
strategy, launched in March, is the industry's first comprehensive set of integrated
software modules for networking equipment
that enables enterprises to specify the behavior of their networks according to business
needs (or policies) and then empower
networks to automatically adapt accordingly.
The new TranscendWare software, based on 3Com's networking equipment, provides
better ways to ensure security and fast
performance on local area networks (LANs) as well as across public telephone
networks for remote access to corporate
LANs.
In addition, 3Com announced that it is the first to support a new industry standard
(Inverse Multiplexing for asynchronous
transfer mode (ATM) -- or IMA) and has inked a deal with MCI to offer corporations
cost-effective wide-area services based
on this solution.
3Com also announced new product testing results from the Tolly Group, a leading
independent networking consulting firm. The
results show that 3Com now provides the industry's highest Fast Ethernet LAN
switching performance. Fast Ethernet switching
is a key technology for 3Com's comprehensive bandwidth hierarchy -- or pathway --
to higher network performance based on
technologies such as Fast IP, virtual LANs and ``Layer 3,'' Gigabit Ethernet, and ATM
switching.
``With networking becoming the pervasive medium for efficient human interaction in
commerce, we are committed to providing
people with the most innovative, cost-effective solutions,'' said Eric Benhamou,
chairman and CEO of 3Com. ``Today's news
builds on our systems leadership in networking software, hardware, industry standards,
and our vision of automated networks
that adapt to a business' policies.''
New Advanced VLAN Policy Services
3Com today announced the availability of Virtual Local Area Networking (VLAN)
Policy Services, the industry's most
advanced system for dramatically cutting network administration time and costs,
enhancing network security and improving end
user productivity. The new functionality, available with 3Com's Transcend Enterprise
Manager UNIX 4.2 network
management software, is being implemented across 3Com's range of High-Function
Switches at the network core and
Boundary Switches at the network edge: CoreBuilder and SuperStack II LAN
switches.
The new software automates the labor-intensive process of assigning groups of users
to common segments of the network,
regardless of each individual's physical location, to: provide them with access to
common network resources, such as
databases; re-strict information access to known or unknown users; and provide users
and groups of users with specified
performance levels.
An innovation in networking, the VLAN Policy Services solution is a system of
network-wide distributed software. It ensures that users are put in a specified VLAN
whenever they log onto the network -- even when they change office locations within a
corporate campus.
New Advanced VPN Services
3Com today unveiled the industry's most advanced, open and secure system for
enabling users to access their corporate local
area network over telephone lines from remote locations. Called 3Access Virtual
Private Networking (VPN), the
standards-based system enables businesses to transfer information over
service-provider managed, global public network as if
using an equally secure, yet more expensive, private leased-line network. The 3Access
VPN modular architecture is an
advancement over earlier generation VPN and remote access solutions: it
cost-effectively leverages access equipment at
end-user corporate sites and service provider network access points close to each
remote user.
3Access VPN architecture includes several industry innovations including built-in
intelligence to act upon centralized policies to
create VPN tunnels (or paths) and to forward traffic forwarding, and distributed
intelligence for better VPN management. For example, these innovations enable direct
remote connection, using caller name or number, with a specified corporate VLAN.
``Tunnel monitoring'' features give network managers greater visibility into the health of
VPN circuits for troubleshooting on the
fly with less costly downtime. The 3Access VPN solution is available for the 3Com
AccessBuilder, CoreBuilder, NETBuilder
and OfficeConnect product lines.
First To Market With New Wide Area Standards; Partners With MCI
3Com announced that it is the first to market with the new wide area networking IMA
standard for carrier and corporate
networks. Based on the 3Com AccessBuilder 9000 ATM multiservices access
platform, this represents the most cost-effective
method to-date for aggregating data, voice and video on a single network. This solves
the problem of customers who are often
saddled with either too much or too little wide area bandwidth to meet their network
requirements.
3Com also announced today that it is partnering with MCI to bring this solution to
customers. With this service, corporate
customers can now specify and use exactly the capacity they need in T1 leased lines --
giving them more wide area network
cost and performance control than ever before.
Industry Leading Fast Ethernet Switching Performance
3Com today announced Tolly Group test results that make its CoreBuilder 5000
High-Function Switching system the
performance leader in Fast Ethernet switching. The CoreBuilder 5000 switch
demonstrated superior Fast Ethernet and FDDI
switching performance against the Cisco Catalyst 5000. The report verifies that the
CoreBuilder 5000 system has over five
times better performance than Cisco System's Catalyst 5000. In addition, the company
said that Layer 3 CoreBuilder
solutions, shipping for over 9 months, support one million packets per second, making
it the highest-speed solution available in
the industry today.
3Com also announced significant growth in port shipments for both Fast Ethernet and
ATM core switching that are ahead of
industry forecasts made by the Dell'Oro Group.
In the last quarter, CoreBuilder Fast Ethernet port shipments have more than tripled,
increasing 245% in a market forecast by
the Dell'Oro Group for less than 30% growth; CoreBuilder ATM switch ports
increased by 40% with market growth forecasts
of only 11%.
New Customer Service Programs Announced
3Com also today announced the EasySell program to enable 3Com distributors' and
resellers' end-user customers to purchase
more comprehensive support services. For example, through back-up services from
3Com, distributors/resellers will be able to
provide end-users with more support without having to invest in a support
infrastructure. This will benefit all sizes of customer
organizations, ranging from the smallest businesses to the largest enterprises with
broadly distributed sites.
Complete details on these announcements are available on the 3Com World Wide
Web Site (http://www.3Com.com); in the
3Com press kit at the Networld+Interop Show Press Room; and at 3Com's
Networld+lnterop Press Meeting Room: #S201, South Hall 3, near 3Com Booth
#3173.
3Com Corporation has helped more than 50 million people gain access to critical
information through high-speed networks.
Designed to serve large enterprises, service providers, small offices and homes, 3Com
products provide a scaleable
architecture to meet the present and future connectivity needs of today's users. With
research and development on three
continents, 3Com is one of the data networking industry's largest and fastest growing
companies. 3Com's innovative marketing, engineering, sales and support simplify
communication, optimize network reliability and protect customer investments.
-0-
3Com, Transcend, AccessBuilder, NETBuilder and SuperStack are registered
trademarks of 3Com Corporation.
CoreBuilder, OfficeConnect and TranscendWare are trademarks of 3Com
Corporation. All other product names are
trademarks of their respective companies.
-
More news for referenced ticker symbols: COMS, and related industries: Networking,
computer, internet, telecommunications.
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