Cisco Extends Intelligent Ethernet Solutions to the Factory Floor

CHICAGO, IL., National Manufacturing Week--March 3, 2003 - Cisco Systems, Inc., today announced the Cisco® Catalyst® 2955 Series, a rugged switch designed for deployment in harsh environments. The Cisco Catalyst 2955 provides advanced intelligent switching services that extend the benefits of industry-standard Ethernet from the back office to the factory floor, improving productivity and collaborative information flow while reducing total cost of ownership.

The Cisco Catalyst 2955 is a compact 12-port LAN switch that combines wire-speed Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity with the intelligent switching services, including security, availability and quality-of-service (QoS), provided end-to-end by the Cisco Catalyst Family.

According to a recent ARC Advisory Group study, the worldwide market for industrial Ethernet devices is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 84.1 percent during the next five years, and in the past two years, the aggregate market volume for industrial Ethernet devices has grown at higher than a 50-percent annual rate.

"This rapid adoption of industrial Ethernet devices reflects an industry quickly transitioning from proprietary, multiple-network environments on the factory floor to a single, standards-based Ethernet network," said Kathy Hill, vice president and general manager for Cisco's Desktop Switching Business Unit. "By deploying the Cisco Catalyst 2955, manufacturers receive not only the interoperability benefits of a standards-based solution, but also the ability to improve productivity by extending Catalyst intelligent switching services company-wide."

General Motors and Emerson Embrace Industrial Ethernet

General Motors, headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, has endorsed Ethernet as a strategic direction in its factories. "GM has completed Ethernet pilots, and we have determined that the technology is now proven and ready to be deployed on the factory floor," said Clif Triplett, global process information officer, Manufacturing and Quality, General Motors.

To satisfy the needs of process-control customers, the Power and Water Solutions division of Emerson Process Management plans to deploy the Cisco Catalyst 2955 in customer solutions for power generation and wastewater treatment markets. "Cisco's Catalyst 2955 switch addresses our stringent reliability and manageability requirements," said Carl Staab, the division's manager of communication technology. "Cisco Intelligent Switching services deliver traffic prioritization, rate limiting and security to help ensure the high uptime, low latency and deterministic performance our customers require."

Cisco Catalyst 2955 Meets Hardened Industrial Requirements, Delivers Intelligence

Ideal for manufacturing and industrial environments, the Cisco Catalyst 2955's intelligent switching features include security for controlling access to automation networks; high availability with redundant power supplies, network performance monitoring, simple equipment replacement and multicast traffic management; and quality of service (QoS) for deterministic performance of critical control traffic.

The Catalyst 2955 Series features industrial-grade components, a compact size, passive cooling and relay output signaling. It is rated to operate at extreme temperatures (-40 to 140 degrees F), and designed to withstand extreme vibration and shock environments. Its reduced size allows it to easily fit into industrial enclosures and traffic-control cabinets.

The product features Cisco IOS® Software for easy end-to-end deployment with other Cisco solutions, such as wireless networks on the factory floor, extending intelligent switching services from the input/output (I/O) or monitoring device to the core and through the wide-area network (WAN). The switch can be easily managed with the embedded Cisco Cluster Management Suite (CMS) software or Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)-based network-management platforms such as CiscoWorks.

Price and Availability

The Cisco Catalyst 2955 Series is scheduled to be available in March 2003, and comes in a range of configurations. The pricing for the Cisco Catalyst 2955 Series is:

• Catalyst 2955T-12-- $2,100
• Catalyst 2955C-12-$2,900
• Catalyst 2955S-12-$3,600