SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Foundry Networks(R), Inc., a leading provider of high-performance enterprise and service provider switching, routing and web traffic management solutions, announced today that its BigIron(R) Layer 3 switches and FastIron(R) Layer 2/3 switches provide the high performance network infrastructure to Weta Digital Ltd, the Wellington-based digital effects company, for the second film in The Lord of the Rings trilogy -- The Two Towers, in cinemas worldwide from December 18, 2002. The Weta Digital creative team creating The Two Towers needed the ability to instantly access, analyze and cross-reference the digital film segments. Weta Digital selected Foundry's high performance networking solution to handle the multiple gigabit throughputs demanded in digital effect production. The first film in the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, was also created with the Foundry Networks infrastructure. Producing The Two Towers posed special challenges for Weta Digital's IT infrastructure, due to the vast amounts of data traffic transferred across the network. According to Weta Digital CIO, Scott Houston, "Cinema goers will experience some of the most complex digital effects ever seen, incorporated in characters like Golum and Treebeard as well as the battle scenes of Helm Deep. The complexity of these special effects was exponential and these complex tasks put an incredible load on our network infrastructure, and we relied heavily on Foundry Networks' products and support to help us with these challenges." The backbone of the Weta Digital network is based on Foundry's BigIron Layer 3 Gigabit Ethernet switches that provide a non-blocking switching fabric to support massive bandwidth and scalability. The BigIron switches deliver Gigabit Ethernet-over-Copper connectivity to both network servers and high-power users. With a total switching capacity of 480 Gbps, the BigIron switch can handle up to 120 non-blocking Gigabit Ethernet ports at a peak performance of 178 million packets per second. The solution was delivered by the teamwork of Foundry and its strategic local partner and system integrator, Infinity Solutions. "Weta Digital needed a network that would handle massive digital information transmission effectively during the production of film and turned to us to provide it," said Bobby Johnson, president and CEO of Foundry Networks. "Foundry has become a valuable partner that provides enterprises with increased network performance, investment protection for future deployment as well as world-class customer support." Further information on the production of the film can be found at http://www.lordoftherings.net/ .