FORE
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Wednesday January 13, 4:00 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: FORE Systems, Inc.
FORE Systems Takes Lead in Developing the New Internet Infrastructure; FORE Announces Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Support
PITTSBURGH, Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- FORE Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORE - news), a leading global supplier of multiservice networking solutions, announced today that the company will add support for MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) to its award-winning high performance ASX™-4000 switching line, bringing the best of both the IP (Internet Protocol) and ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) worlds to IP service providers.
FORE's at the Core of IP Service Provider Nets
FORE Systems' switching solutions have been selected by some of the premier Internet Service Providers (ISPs), including Cable & Wireless USA (see 1/11/99 news announcement from FORE Systems), Level 3, UUNET, Metronet and others. MPLS is the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) standard architecture to handle the transition of the current ATM-based Internet backbone to the new Internet Infrastructure. With the addition of MPLS, FORE is enabling a new generation of IP services, such as Voice over IP (VoIP), IP fax, and IP virtual private networks (VPNs).
''With MPLS so effectively complementing our own industry-leading switching and routing capabilities, the ForeRunner® ASX-4000 is clearly the best-in- class switch for the Internet core,'' said Niel Viljoen, senior vice president and general manager, Service Provider Business Unit, FORE Systems. ''It becomes the central product for empowering the new Internet Infrastructure.''
FORE is expecting the MPLS support for its ASX-4000 to be available during the second half of 1999. The addition of MPLS to the ASX-4000 brings together the IETF standard for scaling Internet routing and the industry's highest performance Internet core switch.
A Powerful Combination: MPLS Joins FORE's Capacity-Aware Routing and
Dynamic Protection Switching on the ASX-4000
MPLS' capabilities join FORE's Capacity-Aware Routing™ and Dynamic Protection Switching™ on the ASX-4000, software features not available on any other vendor's switching platform.
FORE's Capacity-Aware Routing searches out and allocates unused network transmission capacity, ensuring that all network resources are being optimally used at all times.
With Dynamic Protection Switching, networks quickly recover from failures without the need for service providers to deploy costly redundant physical infrastructures.
The award-winning ASX-4000 is the industry's only backbone switch with up to 40 Gbps of non-blocking switching capacity and true OC-48c (2.5 Gbps) link support. The switch can support as many as 64 OC-12c (622 Mbps) connections and 16 OC-48c connections.
''FORE's record of providing Internet core switches gives them a solid understanding of service providers' provisioning, traffic engineering and network recovery needs,'' said John Ryan, principal and chief analyst at Ryan, Henken and Kent, a telecom industry research firm based in South San Francisco, CA. ''This should position FORE to deliver a full-featured MPLS implementation that is very attractive to Internet backbone providers. FORE's Capacity-Aware Routing adds practical provisioning and load balancing capabilities to MPLS, enabling FORE to leverage its added value while supporting this important emerging standard.''
About MPLS
MPLS is the core switching architecture being developed by the IETF for scaling Internet routing, delivering new IP-based services, and integrating IP and ATM technologies.
About FORE Systems
FORE Systems is a leading global supplier of networking solutions based on an Intelligent Infrastructure™ designed to handle the networked applications of today and tomorrow.
FORE's Networks of Steel™ deliver the increased capacity, reduced complexity and unparalleled flexibility and scalability necessary to build networks that last. Thousands of enterprise and service provider customers worldwide have put FORE Systems' solutions at the heart of their networks.
For more information on FORE's Networks of Steel, call 888-404-0444 or visit the FORE Systems web site at fore.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to products, partners, customers, future growth and other matters. Please refer to the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed by FORE Systems with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June, 1998, and the Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed by FORE Systems in August, 1998, and November, 1998, for a discussion of risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements.
All FORE Systems' editorial information and graphics can be found on NEWSdesk, the high-tech Internet Network at newsdesk.com.
FORE Systems and ForeRunner are registered trademarks of FORE Systems, Inc. Capacity-Aware Routing, Dynamic Protection Switching, Intelligent Infrastructure, ASX and Networks of Steel are trademarks of FORE Systems, Inc. All other brands or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.
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