[FOR TECHIES-BAY CLAIMS LONG]
( BW)(BAY-NETWORKS)(BAY) Bay Networks' Accelar 1200 Routing Switch
Delivers Highest Throughput and Lowest Latency in Tests Conducted by
Bradner at Harvard Device Test Lab
Business Editors/Computer Writers
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 12, 1997--
Accelar 100 Wins Data Communication's Tester's Choice Award
Bay Networks, Inc. (NYSE:BAY) today announced the results of an independent network test
completed by the Harvard Network Device Test Lab (NDTL), which demonstrate that Bay Networks'
Accelar 1200 Routing Switch is the industry's highest performing, combined layer 2 (L2) and layer 3 (L3)
networking device, as sustained under the highest load with zero packet loss for all packet sizes.
The Harvard tests verify the performance and flexibility claims of the distributed, hardware-based
forwarding architecture found in the company's Accelar 1200 Routing Switch.
The throughput of over 7 million packets per second (Mpps) is the highest aggregate L2 or L3
performance observed to date by Harvards' NDTL. Test results show that the L3 throughput of Bay
Networks' Accelar 1200 routing switch is nearly three times higher than that of any packet-by-packet or
cut-through routing device or system previously tested in these laboratories.
"The Bay Networks Accelar 1200 has raised the bar for performance of routing devices by recording
an aggregate IP packet forwarding rate of over 7 Mpps with no lost packets," said Scott Bradner,
consultant at Harvard's NDTL. "In addition, the Accelar 1200 has the lowest latency for Fast Ethernet
switching that has been measured at NDTL."
The test data revealed the distributed forwarding/shared memory architecture of the Accelar 1200
routing switch delivered throughput at full media rates for both L2 and L3 traffic. The maximum load
applied to the switch was 48 parallel streams of Fast Ethernet traffic equaling 4.8 Gbps of aggregate
bandwidth and forwarding performance of over 7 Mpps for 64-byte packets, with no packet -- more --
loss.
The average latency was nearly identical for both L2 and L3 traffic at less than 7 microseconds over
the range of packet sizes, under all test conditions. This showed that the efficiency of forwarding table
lookups by the Accelar 1200 is the same for both L2 and L3 packets.
"The results of the test conducted by Scott Bradner at the Harvard NDTL clearly show that the Accelar
1200 delivers wire-speed Layer 3 performance, helping to solidify our position at the forefront of this
emerging market," said Lloyd Carney, executive vice president and general manager for Bay Networks'
Enterprise Business Group. "At price points of $700 per port, the forwarding performance of the Accelar
1200 routing switch comes in below the cost of many of today's L2 backbone switches."
The latency and latency variation for L3 forwarding in the Accelar 1200 routing switch compares very
favorably with the fastest L2 switches ever tested in the NDTL labs. Layer 3 forwarding in the Accelar
1200 is configurable on a per port basis, allowing network managers to turn on the routing precisely
where it is needed in the network. The Accelar 1200 routing switch also enables network managers to
deploy robust L3 functionality without any performance penalties.
The Accelar 1200 routing switch provides the functionality required for scaleable backbone
applications, including: autosensing link speed on 10/100Base-TX ports for automatic bandwidth
scalability; a full set of fault tolerance features (redundant switch fabric, redundant power supply and
redundant Gigabit Ethernet physical connections); and a full suite of routing functionality for policy
implementation, security and load balancing.
In addition to the report issued by Harvard's NDTL, customers have returned very favorable feedback
to Bay Networks regarding its Accelar routing switches. "I needed fast IP routing and the Accelar
products gave me routing at the cost and speed of layer 2 switching," said Tauoa Falo, Network Manager
American Protective Services. "The Accelar routing switches will also enable me to easily migrate to
Gigabit Ethernet speeds, much sooner than I had anticipated."
Accelar 100 Wins Tester's Choice
Bay Networks also announced today that its Accelar 100 routing switch won Tester's Choice in the
November 1997 issue of Data Communications magazine. In a comparative test of multilayer switches,
Data Communications reported that "Bay Networks' Accelar 100 is a great traffic cop. Among devices
without backpressure, it did the best job of arbitrating among contending ports during -- more
-- periods of congestion."
The test involved both switching and routing, with each device being evaluated in terms of forwarding
rate, baseline latency, partial mesh latency, traffic distribution under congestion,and rerouting. The test
also confirmed that the Accelar 100 forwarded IP at wire-speed.
About Bay Networks' Accelar Routing Switches
Routing Switches are a new product class that incorporate the intelligence of routing with the speed of
switching. Bay Networks' Accelar routing switches provide dramatic performance improvements in
today's networks because they are optimized to route IP.
Accelar 1000 product family capabilities include: protocol-sensitive VLANs which allow on-going
support for legacy protocols; priority queuing which provides support for QOS and Class of Service
applications; and IP Multicast support. These features enable existing enterprise networks to migrate
easily to high-speed, high-function intranets without requiring a costly and disruptive backbone overhaul.
Unlike other proprietary approaches to improving IP performance, Routing Switches leverage existing
IP without requiring complex new protocols or expensive network upgrades for the existing routers,
switches or adapters. A Routing Switch can be plugged into an existing network, without the need for
configuration or rewiring.
About Bay Networks, Inc.
Bay Networks, Inc. (NYSE:BAY) is a leader in the worldwide networking market, providing a complete
line of products that serve corporate enterprises, service providers and telecommunications carriers.
The company offers frame and ATM switches, routers, shared media, remote and Internet access
solutions, IP services and network management applications, all integrated by Bay Networks' Adaptive
Networking strategy.
With headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., Bay Networks markets its products and services around the
world, providing 7x24 support coverage. For additional information visit the company's World Wide Web
site at baynetworks.com or call 800-8-BAYNET.
This release, other than historical financial information, may consist of forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or
results. For instance, factors which could cause results to differ from future events include the rate of
adoption of new technology, competitive pricing actions and marketing programs, among others.
Readers are referred to the documents filed by Bay Networks with the S.E.C., specifically the most
recent reports on forms 10-K and 10-Q, which identify important risk factors which could cause actual
results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements.
Note to Editors: Bay Networks is a registered trademark and Accelar is a trademark of Bay Networks,
Inc. Other brand and product names are property of their respective owners.
--30--rn/sf*
CONTACT: Bay Networks, Inc.
Erin Curtis, 408/495-3619
ecurtis@baynetworks.com
or
FitzGerald Communications
Stacy Breines, 408/562-6324
stacy_breines@fitzcomm.com
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS COMED
INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET TELECOMMUNICATIONS PRODUCT |
