SAN JOSE, Calif. -- February 5, 1996 -- Cisco Systems, Inc., the globalinternetworking leader, today announced a suite of products to enhanceInternet security, reduce administrative costs and alleviate bottleneckscaused by heavy Internet traffic.

The new CiscoAdvantage(tm) product suite improves network managers' abilityto cope with several challenges posed by the growing popularity of theInternet. These problems include security, high volumes of network trafficand the shortage of network addresses.

CiscoAdvantage products are designed for use both by Internet serviceproviders and by companies who manage their own networks. They are thefirst products of their kind that harness the intelligent capabilities ofinternetworks to offer smarter services to network users who want to accessthe World Wide Web (WWW).

Initially, three product categories are being introduced: Web serverload-balancing software, NetWare Internet connectivity hardware andsoftware, and secure IP network address translation/firewall hardware. Bythe end of 1996, the entire CiscoAdvantage product suite will beHTML-manageable through any Internet client software such as NetscapeNavigator(tm) or Spyglass Mosaic.

"With CiscoAdvantage, connecting to the Internet is a much easier processthan before," said Ed Kozel,senior vice president and chief technologyofficer of Cisco. "Our users want to add and grow Web and Internetresources to their networks without compromising security."

Directing WWW Traffic

The growing number of WWW and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) sites, over10,000 according to Gartner Group reports (October 11, 1995), ischallenging network managers with excessive demands on Internet servers.The CiscoAdvantage product suite gracefully scales Internet resources whileproviding redundancy that is invisible to the end user. The CiscoAdvantageLocalDirector and DistributedDirector products help network managers buildmultiple WWW sites that appear to the user as a single address, eliminatingaccess delays. LocalDirector distributes user requests among multipleservers at a single site, while DistributedDirector spreads the load amongservers in geographically dispersed locations to alleviate delays caused bybusy servers or distant resources.

"We are pleased to be working with Cisco to provide Internet solutions forour customers," said Rick Schell, vice president of product development atNetscape. "Netscape is seeing increasing demand for Internet access andservices. The high rate of online growth worldwide requires smartnetworking products such as CiscoAdvantage to avoid user access delays andprovide geographically sensitive response times."

Security and Addressing Concerns

To help users protect their internal resources from intrusion whileaccessing the Internet, CiscoAdvantage Private Internet Exchange(PIX) offers full firewall security between a company's servers and the Internet-- hiding the architecture of an internal network from external resources.This security includes standardized encryption and other unique technologydesigned to prevent unauthorized user access. PIX also gives networkmanagers the ability to maintain private, unregistered Internet Protocol(IP) addresses and connect them through a gateway to public registered IPaddresses.

Building a Better NetWare LAN

CiscoAdvantage Internet Junctionsoftware connects PCs on a NovellNetWare LAN to the native language of the Internet, Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) , without requiring networkmanagers toinstall complex TCP/IP networking software on every PC. Novell NetWareusers -- estimated at 45 million worldwide -- want simple access to Internetresources without having to scrap their existing network investment. Thisproduct set also allows Internet service providers to serve medium-sizedbusiness users who only have NetWare LANs -- a customer base they have notbeen able to service traditionally.

Internet Junction software centralizes the management of Internetconnections and preserves Windows NT, Novell NetWare and UNIX networkinvestments by isolating sensitive business information on mission-criticalnetwork servers. Netscape Navigator, which is now bundled with InternetJunction, adds advanced Internet security features to CiscoAdvantage basedon the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) open protocol. Internet Junction isoffered as standalone gateway software and will later be bundled with Ciscohardware.

Availability

Initial CiscoAdvantage product offerings, including LocalDirector,DistributedDirector, PIX and Internet Junction software, will beginshipping this quarter.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the leading globalsupplier ofinternetworking solutions,including routers, LAN and ATM switches, dial-upaccess servers and network management software. These products, integratedby the Cisco IOS (tm) software, linkgeographically dispersed Internetsand intranets worldwide . Cisco news and product/service information areavailable at World Wide Web site http://www.cisco.com. Cisco isheadquartered in San Jose, Calif.