INDUSTRY

SAN JOSE, Calif., -- Foundry Networks(R), Inc., a leading provider of high-performance enterprise and service provider switching, routing and Web traffic management solutions, and Bussan Networks K.K., a Foundry distributor in Japan, today announced a major capacity addition to Japan's largest Internet exchange, WIDE (Widely Integrated Distributed Environments). Wide, a project operating Japan's major Internet exchanges, has deployed Foundry's 10-Gigabit Ethernet solution using Foundry's BigIron(R) 15000 Layer 3 Backbone Switch to dramatically improve network performance and throughput for its customers. "Our decision to introduce a 10-Gigabit Ethernet solution was to support broadband contents centering around data centers," said Professor Jun Murai, faculty member of Environmental Information at Keio University and WIDE Representative. "Foundry's 10-Gigabit Ethernet is a solution based on IEEE 802.3ae, the industry standard, and our migration from the existing system was smooth requiring only additional 10-Gigabit Ethernet modules," continued Murai. The WIDE Project operates a number of Japan's major Internet exchanges including NSPIXP-2. More than 60 major Japanese Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are connected to NSPIXP-2. WIDE deployed Foundry's 10-Gigabit Ethernet solution to improve the performance between Internet exchange core and other top tier one Japanese carriers. With this latest 10-Gigabit Ethernet customer win, Foundry is further extending its leadership position in the industry with numerous 10-Gigabit Ethernet installations including The University Health Network in Toronto, the London Internet Exchange (LINX), Walter Reed Hospital, Amsterdam Internet Exchange, and The University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute (USC-ISI). Foundry's BigIron 15000 Layer 3 Backbone Switch is the industry's highest throughput communication platform that provides highly scalable routing performance of up to 178 Mpps per system. Its compact design accommodates up to fourteen 10-Gigabit Ethernet or 232 Gigabit Ethernet ports, with a total switching capability of 480 Gbps. The BigIron 15000 also provides functionality essential for Japan's Internet exchanges, including highly scalable OSPF and BGP4 routing as well as rich redundancy features including redundant management modules, hot-swappable modules and power supplies, IEEE 802.3ad-based link-aggregation, IEEE 802.1w-based Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP). "Our standards-based 10-Gigabit Ethernet solutions offer a very powerful and compelling solution for the construction of next-generation, high-performance networking infrastructures," said Bobby Johnson, president and CEO of Foundry Networks. "By choosing Foundry, WIDE joins an impressive group of early 10-Gigabit Ethernet technology adopters reaping the benefits of industry-leading performance, price and ease of use, while helping it meet Japan's highly demanding networking environment," continued Johnson.