Cisco Raises the Bar in Stackable Switching, Introduces Catalyst 3750 Series with Cisco Stackwise™ Technology

LAS VEGAS, Nevada - Cisco Worldwide Partner Summit - April 15, 2003 - Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced its next-generation stackable switch platform, the Cisco® Catalyst® 3750 Series with Cisco StackWise™ Technology, raising the bar in desktop switching. This new product line provides unprecedented stackable resiliency and ease of operation while delivering Gigabit Ethernet performance. It allows mid-sized organizations and enterprise branch offices to significantly increase the operating efficiency of their local-area networks (LANs) while enabling them to adapt to changing business needs.

Cisco StackWise technology is the revolutionary stacking architecture at the heart of the Catalyst 3750 Series. It provides a 32-Gbps stack interconnect that unifies up to nine individual switches, enabling them to behave as a single, logical, convergence-optimized unit allowing customers to deploy voice, video and data applications with greater confidence. This Cisco innovation brings stackable switch customers new levels of:

• stackable resiliency through advanced failover in hardware and software,
• unified services with distributed forwarding and quality of service (QoS),
• ease of operation through automated configuration,
• performance with the ability to handle the demands of Gigabit Ethernet connectivity and
• IPv6 readiness.

With millions of new devices becoming IP aware, there is a need for networking products to support the IPv6 protocol. Customers can deploy the Catalyst 3750 platform knowing it is IPv6-capable in hardware and as a result can support this protocol with a future software upgrade.

In addition, by deploying the Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series, Cisco's channel partners can now provide significant business benefits to customer networks through integration of convergence and Gigabit-optimized hardware with new applications and services.

Cisco Systems® leads the industry with a full switching product suite that allows customers to migrate easily to Gigabit Ethernet technology, whether in the core, the distribution layer, datacenter or to the desktop. Cisco's end-to-end solution includes the Catalyst 6500, Catalyst 4500, and now the Cisco Catalyst 3750 for stackable Gigabit Ethernet deployments. Deployment of intelligent-services enabled Gigabit Ethernet allows customers to expand their networks to accommodate a broader range of applications - from video to e-commerce.

"We have been testing the Cisco Catalyst 3750 and we are very pleased with its performance and capabilities that allow us to provide a high level of network availability," said Virgil Palmer, director of global telecommunication for Air Products, the largest global supplier of electronic materials, hydrogen, helium and select performance chemicals. "Network resiliency is critical to support our global deployment of SAP software, which in turn helps us better serve our customers."

"We are very proud to set a new standard in stackable switching through a powerful combination of revolutionary stacking and Gigabit capabilities in the Catalyst 3750 Series with Cisco StackWise Technology," said Kathy Hill, vice president and general manager of Cisco's desktop switching business unit. "This ground-breaking technology delivers to customers a stackable switch family with unparalleled levels of performance, resiliency, ease of installation and maintenance as well as the industry's most advanced set of intelligent services."

Pricing and Availability

Models include:

• Catalyst 3750G-24TS with 24 10/100/1000 ports with 4 small form-factor pluggable (SFP) uplinks, starting at $6995.
• Catalyst 3750G-24T with 24 10/100/1000 ports, starting at $5995.
• Catalyst 3750-24TS with 24 10/100 ports and 2 SFP uplinks, starting at $4995.
• Catalyst 3750-48TS with 48 10/100 ports with 4 SFP uplinks, starting at $9995.

The Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series switches are scheduled to begin shipping to customers in June. Each switch is upgradeable to an enhanced multilayer software image.

Cisco Systems will be hosting a Webcast of its press announcement of the Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series and the Cisco StackWise technology on Tuesday, April 15 at 3 p.m. PST. For registration and subsequent viewing of the Webcast, please visit www.cisco.com/go/semreg/pspresscon

Further information on the Catalyst 3750 Series switches can be found at www.cisco.com/go/catalyst3750. Information on the recently announced Catalyst 6500 next-generation modules can be found at http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/prod_033103.html.

For more information about the complete line of Cisco Catalyst switches that provide end-to-end switching solutions from the core to the edge of the network, please visit the Web at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/index.html.