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To: djane who wrote (46027)	5/5/1998 1:20:00 AM
From: djane	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 61433

Forbes article on Neo Networks and super-router start-ups www.forbes.com By Daniel Lyons The biggest threat to companies like Bay Networks may not be from Cisco Systems but from startups that are developing a new breed of super-routers that blow Bay and Cisco out of the water. "Companies like Bay and Cisco are just taking the technology that we've used in the past and making it faster. They're doing routers on steroids. But that just isn't going to work in the 21st century," says Mark Cree, vice president of marketing at Neo Networks Inc., a networking startup in Minnetonka, Minn. Neo Networks is taking a different approach. The company has used massively parallel computing architectures--the kind used in supercomputers--to build a super-router called the StreamProcessor. There are two models. The StreamProcessor 2400 harnesses 1,128 microprocessors and processes data at 512 gigabits per second. Price: $29,995. A low-end version, the StreamProcessor 1000, processes data at 120 gigabits per second, and is priced at $14,995. For comparison, consider that Cisco's fastest router, the Catalyst 8500, processes data at 40 gigabits per second and costs $24,995. The StreamProcessor also has more intelligence for doing things like routing web traffic and managing different kinds of traffic, such as voice and video. That will be an important advantage as the world of data networking converges with video and voice over the next five years. Neo Networks figures it can entice customers with the price-performance benefits, and hook them with the added intelligence. Target customers are phone carriers and Internet service providers. Neo Networks is not alone. Two other startups--Avici Systems Inc. and Juniper Networks Inc.--are also developing high-speed next-generation network devices. Despite their size disadvantage, these little guys are going to give Cisco and Bay a run for their money, says Tam Dell'Oro, president of The Dell'Oro Group, a networking market research company in Portola Valley, Calif. One reason: Avici and Juniper are funded by Lucent and Nortel, telecom giants who are dying to get into the data networking world and crush Cisco and Bay. At this point it's too early to predict a winner. One thing is certain--networks are about to start going a whole lot faster. Fasten your seatbelt. \| top \| See also: Gray day for Bay Better technology may not be enough to put Bay Networks on top. The race for market share Bay Networks versus the rest of the pack. Forbes Front Page \| Forbes Magazine \| The Toolbox Sitemap \| Help \| Webmaster c 1998 Forbes Inc. Terms, Conditions and Notices