INTERCONNECTS

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Foundry Networks, Inc., a performance and total solutions leader for end-to-end switching and routing, announced today that its project with the London Internet Exchange (LINX) was honored as the "best use of high speed technology" at the Networking Industry Awards, held this week in conjunction with the UK tradeshow Networks for Business 2003. LINX was the first European organization to install standards-based 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) technology and is one of Foundry's more than 125 10GbE enterprise and service provider customers around the world. The Networking Industry Awards recognize best practices and honor leading companies in the field of networking technologies, products and services. They are judged by an independent panel of leading professionals within the networking industry. The award-winning project involved LINX upgrading its network from Gigabit to 10 Gigabit Ethernet using Foundry's Layer 3 BigIron(R) 15000 switches, a process that took literally three minutes as new 10GbE "blades" were installed. The upgrade has solved load-balancing issues for LINX, resulting from trunking gigabit Ethernet to form one large "pipe". It also provides LINX with more headroom to cope with latency-sensitive data and multimedia traffic that is growing exponentially. Mike Hughes, LINX's head of network architecture, says, "This isn't about being a 'genetic' early adopter of technology but providing a mission-critical solution to meet member needs. The attraction of 10 Gigabit Ethernet is that it's ubiquitous Ethernet but just 10 times faster and, compared to OC192 SONET/SDH, the cost is dramatically lower. The project with Foundry has enabled us to stay well ahead of demand and ensure room for growth. The rollout was flawless and Foundry fully deserves the industry recognition that this award brings." The judges chose Foundry because the 10GbE upgrade was straightforward, with the BigIron switches fully meeting the performance, reliability and business expectations of the LINX. Mark Lloyd, the Networking Industry Awards' event organizer, adds, "The judging panel -- comprised of IT luminaries in the UK -- were impressed with how the LINX met its bandwidth needs using cost effective, standards-based 10GbE switch technology from Foundry."