Tuesday October 13, 12:31 pm Eastern Time
biz.yahoo.com
Company Press Release
3COM Introduces Industry Leading
Corebuilder 9000 Gigabit
Ethernet-Based System
Company readies customers for convergence while lowering today's cost of ownership
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 13, 1998-- Bolstering its overall leadership in the Ethernet networking market, 3Com(R) Corporation today introduced the packet switching
version of its CoreBuilder 9000 -- the industry's most powerful, scalable and reliable Gigabit Ethernet-based switch for local area and campus networking applications. This massive new system
addresses the burgeoning demand for modular Ethernet local area network (LAN) gear - a market growing from $4.3 billion in 1998 to $5.2 billion in 1999 (Dell'Oro Group). 3Com's CoreBuilder
9000 packet switching system delivers 4 times the capacity and performance of competing LAN core systems, enabling customers to fundamentally change the way they build networks to lower
their overall cost of ownership.
A new class of enterprise switch, 3Com's CoreBuilder 9000 switch is designed to ensure continuous operation and availability, along with leading performance and control. The CoreBuilder 9000 switch
offers ''PBX-quality'' reliability, making it an ideal system for the next wave of business applications, which will be based on running voice and video over data networks. As the center of the network,
the CoreBuilder 9000 switch aggregates traffic from traditional wiring closet and edge devices,including 3Com's market-leading SuperStack(R) II switches, delivering superior application
performance to end users.
The company also announced it has begun shipping the CoreBuilder 9000 packet-based system to customers in a variety of industries, including government, education, transportation, high technology,
manufacturing and education. Examples include National Institute of Health, Air Canada [Nasdaq:ACNAF - news], Harbinger Corporation [Nasdaq:HRBC - news], Total Oil Marine, Ohio
State University's Fisher College of Business and others.
''This new class of system culminates our two-year plan to dramatically enhance our product, sales and customer support for the large enterprise market,'' said Clint Ramsay, vice president for 3Com's Enterprise Systems. ''The CoreBuilder 9000 now leads our entirely new product line for this market, and already it is winning us key business worldwide.''
Michelle Rae McLean, senior research analyst, Global Networking Strategies, META Group said,
''Many of our clients are selecting routing switches to anchor their next-generation campus backbones. The hardware-based routing they offer, combined with Gigabit Ethernet's faster
transport speed, provides the scalability needed for the LAN core of large enterprises.''
Most competitive option for today's large enterprise networks
The CoreBuilder 9000 packet-based system provides 100/1000 Mbps connectivity with advanced Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching control, massive scalability and flexibility and high availability for the
network's campus interconnect and data center. It can also be used in the wiring closet, delivering an unprecedented number of 10/100 connections within a single chassis system, plus the utmost
reliability.
The CoreBuilder 9000 packet-based system delivers more than 4 times the capacity and performance of competing products from Bay Networks, Cabletron Systems and Cisco Systems.
Industry-leading features include:
560 Gbps of backplane capacity
Support for 126 Gigabit Ethernet ports and 504 Fast Ethernet ports
Layer 2 switching rates of 188 Mpps and Layer 3 routing of 56 Mpps
Support for 9 groups of RMON and 6 groups of RMON2
''3Com's CoreBuilder 9000 has enabled me to dramatically increase my network bandwidth, which has reduced my overall support costs and given me headroom for future applications,'' said Kurtis
Lindemann, network specialist for Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business. ''By maximizing the productivity and performance of our network, we are delivering top-notch services to
our faculty and students.''
Next-generation architecture with field-proven Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching
To ensure customers long-life use of the system well beyond the turn of the century, the CoreBuilder
9000 switch's highly-redundant, star-wired backplane scales up to 560 Gbps of capacity. The CoreBuilder 9000 packet-based system's initial Gigabit Ethernet switching fabric capacity starts at
48 Gbps, with planned extensions in excess of 140 Gbps.
The system's PBX-like reliability is based upon complete hardware redundancy (i.e. fault tolerance) as well as advanced software redundancy to ensure uninterrupted, failsafe processing. This
ultra-reliability is required for running converged voice/video/applications, such as LAN telephony,
video conferencing and other real-time multimedia applications, now on the horizon.
CoreBuilder 9000 Layer 2 10/100 and Gigabit Ethernet switching modules are based on 3Com's state-of-the-art Switching Architecture for Gigabit Ethernet (SAGE) ASIC technology, also used in
3Com's SuperStack II Switch 3900 and SuperStack II Switch 9300 systems.
Layer 3 switching modules for the CoreBuilder 9000 packet-based system are based on 3Com's Flexible Intelligent Routing Engine (FIRE) ASIC chip set, also found in the CoreBuilder 3500
high-function Layer 3 switch, to provide maximum flexibility and control for Layer 3 networking.
Layer 3 switching cost-effectively replaces LAN routers and boosts network efficiency.
Advanced management with policy and control
The CoreBuilder 9000 switch supports policy-based management and VLANs through industry-standard protocols 802.1p(1) and 802.1Q also found in 3Com SuperStack II switches and
3Com Ethernet network interface cards with DynamicAccess(R) software. Combining extensive QoS/CoS features and these protocols, the CoreBuilder 9000 switch delivers ultimate control and
availability for the network core.
The CoreBuilder 9000 switch also supports 3Com's policy-powered network framework, which comprehensively enforces information access (security), information delivery (class/quality of
service), and network equipment monitoring and configuration actions according to business rules (i.e., policies). Policy-powered networks offer the control required for next-generation converged
voice/video/data networks.
Pricing and Availability:
Base package U.S. list pricing for the CoreBuilder 9000 packet-based system is $35,800 with a
2-Port 1000Base-SX Gigabit Ethernet module priced at $3,950. Both are available now.
Additional modules announced today include:
48 Gbps Switching Fabric: U.S. list price $12,950. Available now.
2-Port 1000Base-LX Gigabit Ethernet module: U.S. list price $5,950. Available now.
20-Port 10/100Base-TX module: U.S. list price $7,950. Available now.
10-Port 100Base-FX module: U.S. list price $9,950. Available now.
12-Port 10/100Base-TX Layer 3 module: U.S. list price $14,950. Scheduled availability:
December 1998.
10-Port 100Base-FX Layer 3 module: U.S. list price $19,950. Scheduled availability:
December 1998.
36-port 10/100 Base-TX: Approximate pricing is $9,000. Scheduled availability: December
1998.
9-Port Gigabit Ethernet module: Approximate pricing is $14,000. Scheduled availability:
Q1CY99.
(1) now officially standardized as part of IEEE 802.1D
About 3Com
3Com Corporation enables individuals and organizations worldwide to communicate and share
information and resources at anytime from anywhere. As one of the world's preeminent suppliers of
data, voice and video communications technology, 3Com has delivered networking solutions to
more than 200 million customers worldwide. The company provides large enterprises, small and
medium enterprises, carriers and network service providers, and consumers comprehensive,
innovative information access products and system solutions for building intelligent, reliable and high
performance local and wide area networks. For further information, visit 3Com's World Wide Web
site at 3com.com or the press site at 3com.com.
3Com, DynamicAccess EtherLink and SuperStack are registered trademarks and CoreBuilder is a trademark of 3Com Corporation.
Contact:
3Com Public Relations
Jessica Lombardi
(978) 264-1528
jessica_lombardi@3com.com |
