BW1119 FEB 10,1998 5:11 PACIFIC 08:11 EASTERN
( BW)(CISCO-SYSTEMS-2)(CSCO) Cisco Systems Announces Gigabit
Networking Solutions
Business Editors/Computer Writers
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 1998--
New Catalyst Products Enhance Performance, Increase System
Capacity and Give Customers a Wider Range of Options for
Smooth Migration to Higher-Performance Networks
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) today announced further enhancements to the Catalyst(R)
5000 family as well as a range of gigabit networking solutions for both the Catalyst 5000 family and the
Cisco 7500 series of high-end routers.
These new products give networking professionals additional high-performance options and a smooth
migration path to build scalable, multilayer gigabit campus networks in both enterprise and service
provider environments.
The new products introduced include the Catalyst 5505, the Supervisor III switching engine, the
NetFlow feature card (NFFC), Gigabit Ethernet uplinks, an OC-12 module, a three-port Gigabit
Ethernet switching module, a nine-port Gigabit EtherChannel(R) switching module and for the Cisco
7500 series of routers, Gigabit Ethernet Interface Processors (GEIPs).
These new options leverage Cisco's industry-leading Gigabit Ethernet switching technology, which was
publicly demonstrated at NetWorld+Interop in the fall of 1997.
"To build and maintain a corporate network that regularly transmits trillions of bits of data per day, any
new networking solution must have several key essentials: performance, scalability and investment
protection," said Kelly Carpenter, network analyst for the Genome Sequencing Center at Washington
University. "Cisco's Catalyst 5000 family coupled with Cisco 7000 series routers consistently provide us
with all the options we need to not only maintain, but expand and enhance our backbone network for the
future."
High-Performance Gigabit Networking Solutions
The Catalyst 5000 family will accommodate a range of high- and low-port-density Gigabit Ethernet
line modules via technology successfully integrated from the Granite Systems acquisition.
The Gigabit Ethernet options available for the Catalyst 5000 series are a three-port switching module
for server farms and a nine-port Gigabit EtherChannel switching module. The three port cards have a
switching capacity of 6 gigabits while each of the nine-port line cards can handle 24 gigabits of switching
capacity. In addition, there are two gigabit Ethernet modular uplink ports which can be supported on the
new Supervisor III engine.
For the Cisco 7500, the new GEIP is the first member of Gigabit Ethernet products for the Cisco
7000 family routers. It is designed to provide connectivity to Gigabit Ethernet-switched networks from
the extensive LAN and WAN services supported by the Cisco 7500. The GEIP can support a variety of
media types including 1000Base-SX for short range and 1000Base-LX for intermediate range fiber
interconnects.
Easy Upgrade to Standards-Based Gigabit Ethernet
In order to ensure future flexibility, standards compliance and investment protection, Cisco has
designed its gigabit solutions using industry-standard gigabit interface converters (GBICs) for the physical
connections into the system. These small connectors enable customers to quickly and easily swap
physical interface options on a port-by-port basis depending on their distance needs and allows for future
expandability.
Furthermore, if there is a change to the transceiver specifications in the Gigabit Ethernet standard, only
the GBICs need to be changed, not the entire box. This avoids the costly burden and risks associated
with bringing down the network to replace a noncompliant switch.
To further enhance high-speed connectivity, Cisco is also implementing Gigabit EtherChannel on the
nine-port gigabit switching modules for the Catalyst 5000 family. Gigabit EtherChannel enables up to
eight Gbps of throughput between Cisco switches by grouping together four Gigabit Ethernet links to be
combined into a single logical link that automatically load balances and provides failover of less than one
second.
Cisco continues to ship thousands of Fast EtherChannel ports in a range of solutions for the Catalyst
2900, Catalyst 5000 and Cisco 7500 series. Many customers have implemented Fast EtherChannel
because it yields up to 800 Mbps of full duplex, resilient bandwidth and runs over standard media for
distances of up to two kilometers.
Advanced Multicast Support
Many networked multimedia applications place not only a heavy load on the network, but require a
high degree of intelligence to be embedded into the system. The Catalyst 5000 family and the Supervisor
III engine now enable wire-speed multicast traffic to be supported simultaneously on up to 266
10/100-Mbps ports.
Thus, the Catalyst 5500 can switch over 40 million pps and customers are still able to set up and
maintain robust, intelligent networks that handle multicast traffic extremely well.
"At Microsoft we have developed a strategy to deploy multicast services across our worldwide
network infrastructure to support multicast enabled applications like NetShow and NetMeeting. During
our selection of products for this deployment, we were especially impressed with the Catalyst
architecture and how it handles multicast and broadcast packets," said Sunjeev Pandey, senior network
engineer at Microsoft Corporation's Information Technology Group.
"As a result, the Catalyst product is used at the heart of our network where its packet-forwarding
rates combined with its support of intelligent IGMP pruning provide exactly the type of solution we are
looking for."
High Port Densities, Proven Technologies and Multilayer Performance
With the new Gigabit Ethernet modules, the Catalyst 5500 offers industry-leading port densities of 32
Gigabit Ethernet ports, 264 10/100BaseT, or 526 10BaseT connections with capacity of 75 gigabits and
56 million packets-per-second (pps) performance. The five-slot Catalyst 5505 can support over 50
gigabits of switching capacity, 38 million pps, and can have up to 20 gigabit Ethernet ports, 96 100BaseT
or 196 10BaseT connections.
Additionally, the Catalyst 5505 and 5500 support redundant power supplies and supervisor engines.
This capability gives customers the ability to run their networks with minimal network downtime.
Furthermore, all Catalyst 5000 family members support hot-swapping of modules so the network is
always operational -- even as changes take place real-time.
Because the demands on the network are greatest in the backbone, networking professionals need to
employ fast systems that have high capacities, high availability and possess all of the Layer 3 features and
functionality they have come to rely on.
This functionality includes comprehensive support for: IP routing protocols such as OSPF, RIP II,
IGRP and Enhanced IGRP; multicast protocols like CGMP, IGMP DVMRP and PIM; mobility
protocols like DHCP and IP mobility; HSRP for resilience; and support for multiprotocol environments
that have IPX, DECNet, and AppleTalk traffic.
To support fully functional Layer 3 performance, the combination of the Route Switch Module (RSM)
and the NFFC on the Supervisor III engine makes the Catalyst 5000 family an ideal high-density
platform to scale the bandwidth in corporate networks without compromising network functionality or
basic operations.
When equipped with Cisco's Layer 3 solutions, the Catalyst 5000 family of products can switch
multiple millions of packets per second while leveraging the extensive network services inherent in Cisco
IOS(TM) software such as quality of service, security, network management, accounting, monitoring and
multicast functionality.
Future additions to the Catalyst family of products will scale Layer 3 performance to 20 million
packets per second for both IP and IPX traffic. This advanced technology will also be leveraged within
the Catalyst 5500 platform for investment protection and flexibility.
Paths to Gigabit Ethernet or ATM
To provide customers with a smooth migration path for either Gigabit Ethernet or Asynchronous
Transfer Mode based networks, Cisco continues to evolve its Catalyst product line to offer a range of
options that seamlessly fit into today's high-performance environments.
Cisco has added an OC-12 ATM LAN Emulation (LANE) module that can provide media-rate
LANE performance with the ability to support multiprotocol over ATM MPOA as a future software
upgrade. Each OC-12 card can support up to 1.22 Gbps of throughput and can be configured with dual
physical connections for redundancy.
As networks continue to evolve and change in the future, customers demand that their investments in
networking solutions be protected. A key advantage of the Catalyst 5000 architecture is the assurance
that line modules remain consistent throughout the system as customers migrate to multilayer gigabit
networks, whether frame or cell based.
Pricing and Availability
Product Price Availability
Catalyst 5505 chassis + power supply $4,250 Now
Supervisor III $13,995 Now
2-port Gigabit uplinks - Supervisor III $3,995 Q2 1998
3-port Gigabit switching module $5,995 Q2 1998
9-port Gigabit EtherChannel module $24,995 Summer 1998
OC-12 ATM module $17,995 Q2 1998
Route Switch Module $19,995 Now
NetFlow Feature Card $4,995 Q2 1998
Gigabit Ethernet Interface Processor $12,000 Q3 1998
About Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. News
and information are available at cisco.com.
Note to Editors: Catalyst, Cisco, Cisco Systems the Cisco Systems logo and EtherChannel are
registered trademarks of Cisco Systems Inc. in the U.S. and certain other countries. All other trademarks
mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
--30--aa/sf*
CONTACT: Cisco Systems Inc.
Robert Barlow, 408/527-5018
rbarlow@cisco.com
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
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