News Release

Cisco Announces New Switched Internetwork Fast Ethernet Solutions from Desktop to Backbone

Catalyst 2900 and CiscoPro Etherswitch 2200 offer low-cost
cisco_building_corporate_002-jpg-1889882-1-0
Apr 15, 1996

Catalyst 2900 and CiscoPro Etherswitch 2200 offer low-cost switching; 10/100 mbps Fast Ethernet Catalyst 5000 module provides high-performance, easy migration


SAN JOSE, Calif., April 15, 1996 -- Cisco Systems today announced acomprehensive set of Fast Ethernet products providing switchedinternetworking solutions from the desktop to the backbone.

The new products include the Catalyst2900 , a high-speed, fully managed,10/100 Fast Ethernet workgroup switch; a 10/100 mbps selectable switchmodule for the Catalyst5000 ; the Cisco FastEthernet SwitchProbe , whichmonitors RMON traffic at the data link, network and application layers;the CiscoPro EtherSwitch 2200, a 10/100 Fast Ethernet workgroup switch; anda Fast Ethernet InterfaceProcessor (FEIP) supporting100BaseFX for Cisco's high-performance 7000 and 7500 series routers.

Cisco also stated its intention that its 4500 and 4700 mid-rangerouters will support a Fast EthernetNetwork Processor Module (NPM), which willallow high-speed communication between network devices.

"The combination of switched Ethernet and Fast Ethernet provides anattractive way to boost performance in the local backbone," said MaryPetrosky, senior analyst at The Burton Group, a consulting firm in Utah."With these new products, Cisco is expanding its Fast Ethernet offerings toprovide customers a solid set of connectivity and managementcapabilities."

Catalyst 2900

The Catalyst 2900family is Cisco's newest solution for providing industryleading 10/100 Ethernet switching to smaller networks. Combining wirespeed performance with embedded traffic management including RMONmonitoring and VLANs, the Catalyst 2900 is intended for highly managed10/100 switched workgroups or backbones.

The Catalyst 2900 features a 14 port fixed configuration chassis and aSupervisor Engine that controls access to the switching backplane, whichcan switch more than one million packets per second. The systems willsupport all industry-standard interfaces, including switched 100BaseFX and10/100 Mpbs with auto negotiating and auto sensing capabilities. TheCatalyst 2900 has two configurations--10/10BaseTX (10/100-Mbps FastEthernet), and 100BaseFX (100-Mbps Fast Ethernet).

The Catalyst 2900 integrates portions of the Cisco IOS(tm) software optimizedfor switching to facilitate VLAN communication across Cisco's family ofrouters as well as its LAN and ATM switches. Cisco IOS software forswitching also ensures network security through firewalls and packetfiltering, while enabling users to logically manage and control sensitivetraffic.

"It's the natural solution for campus backbone customers looking to provideFast Ethernet at the building level," said Jayshree Ullal, director ofmarketing for Cisco's Workgroup Business Unit. "The Catalyst 2900 bringsscalable switching to corporate networks. Integrating high-performanceswitching with the Cisco IOS software in one platform also helps customerscreate a secure, manageable environment."

Catalyst 5000 10/100 Ethernet Switching Module

The modular Catalyst5000 supports 12-50 ports of switched 10/100 Mbps,with optional uplinks to Ethernet, ATM or FDDI. This 10/100 Mbps FastEthernet Switching Module for the Catalyst 5000 offers a cost-effective,high-performance solution for mixed Ethernet and Fast Ethernetenvironments. The switching module eases migration from 10 Mbps FastEthernet to 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet with auto-negotiation and auto-sensingfeatures.

Managed Switched Internetworking

The Catalyst 5000 and Catalyst 2900 excel at traffic management, which isbuilt into the systems. Cisco is the only vendor to support embeddedremote monitoring(RMON) across all of its Fast Ethernet switchingplatforms. Because RMON is fully integrated with the CiscoView (tm) devicemanagement application, network managers can access the RMON statistics,history, alarms, events groups for any port through SNMP or Cisco'sTrafficDirector management application.

In addition, Cisco is the first network vendor to offer embedded VLANcapabilities in its family of Fast Ethernet switching platforms. Bothswitch products deliver enterprise-wide VLAN communications by handling upto 1,024 switched virtual LANs without any switching degradation. Thisgreatly assists customers in traffic and network management. To ensureVLAN reliability and robustness, the Catalyst 5000 and Catalyst 2900 offerredundancy with ISL and load balancing.

The embedded RMON and VLAN features are managed by an umbrella managementtool, CiscoWorks forSwitched Internetworks, which provides an integratedview of Fast Ethernet networks, enabling managers to view their networktopology in multiple ways. Included in CiscoWorks for SwitchedInternetworks are VlanDirector ,enabling users to configure networks basedon logical user groups rather than geographic location; TrafficDirector , atraffic monitoring and analysis application; and CiscoView, a GUI-basedapplication for device management and monitoring.

Fast Ethernet SwitchProbe

Cisco's Fast EthernetSwitchProbe is a network monitor that providesRMON data to Traffic Director and other RMON monitoring applications.Supporting all nine groups of the RMON MIB in addition to VLAN monitoringextensions, the Fast Ethernet SwitchProbe can relay critical diagnostic andtrouble shooting information to network managers from shared half duplex orswitched half or full-duplex Fast Ethernet networks. An FE SwitchProbewhich is attached to an ISL-VLAN trunk link can provide per VLAN statisticsand drill down into network traffic on a VLAN basis.

CiscoPro EtherSwitch 2200

The fixed-configuration CiscoPro EtherSwitch 2200, which combineswire-speed performance with embedded traffic management, is an idealsolution for 10/100 switched workgroups or backbones in small andmedium-sized businesses. It is managed under CiscoVision, an SNMP-basedWindows network management solution.

The CiscoPro EtherSwitch 2200 features a 14-port fixed configurationchassis and a Supervisor Engine that controls access to the switchingbackplane, which can switch more than one million packets per second. TheCiscoPro EtherSwitch 2200 has two configurations -- 10/100BaseTX (10/100-MbpsFast Ethernet), and 100BaseFX (100-Mbps Fast Ethernet).

Fast Ethernet Interfaces for 4500/4700 and 7000/7500 Routers

To further broaden support for Fast Ethernet routing solutions, Cisco alsoannounced its intent to provide a new version of the Fast EthernetInterface Processor (FEIP) , as well as future support for a Fast EthernetNetwork Process Module (NPM) for the Cisco 4500, Cisco 4700 andCiscoPro 4500 modular access routers.

Introduced last year, the FEIP was the first routed Fast Ethernet producton the market supporting 100BaseTX (unshielded twisted pair wiring). Thenew versions of the FEIP extend Fast Ethernet support to 100BaseFX(multi-mode fiberoptic cable) making the FEIP the ideal platform foraggregating a large number of switched 10-Mbps LANs, routing between VLANs,and for high-performance backbone applications. The FEIP is supported onall models of the award-winning Cisco 7000 and Cisco 7500 platforms.

The NPM will allow high-speed and inter-VLAN communication with networkdevices such as switches, servers and other routers. It will conform tothe IEEE 802.3u Fast Ethernet specification, provide connectivity via100BaseTX and 100BaseFX interfaces, and support Interswitch Link (ISL) overFast Ethernet to ensure VLAN compatibility with the Catalyst 3000 andCatalyst 5000.

Cisco's Current Line of Fast Ethernet Products and Partnerships

The products announced today augment several Fast Ethernet products alreadyshipping. These include the Catalystfamily of LAN switches ; Cisco7000/7500 routers; FastHub100(tm)Repeaters ; CiscoProFastHub 100; andCiscoPro EtherSwitch10/100,1200 and1400models. In addition,Cisco's breadth of Fast Ethernet solutions is extended to the desktop withagreements with Intel (March 4,1996) and Xpoint, in whichthe companies are collaborating to producemore manageable Fast Ethernet solutions with virtual LAN technology.

Availability

------------------------------------------------Product                           Availability================================================Catalyst 2900  10/100BaseT                     July, 1996  100BaseF                        July, 1996

Catalyst 5000 10/100 Module shipping

Router Interfaces: Cisco Series 7000 FEIP-FX C'Q2, 1996 Cisco Series 7000 FEIP-TX C'Q2, 1996 Cisco Series 4000 NPM C'Q3, 1996

CiscoPro Etherswitch 2200 10/100BaseTX July, 1996 100BaseFX July, 1996

Management Products: Fast Ethernet Switch Probe C'Q2, 1996 Cisco Works CWSI C'Q2, 1996------------------------------------------------

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 LANs, WANs andIBM networks. Cisco news and product/service information are available atWorld Wide Web site http://www.cisco.com. Cisco is headquartered in SanJose, Calif.


Posted: Fri Mar 19 10:37:46 PST 1999