SAN JOSE, Calif., December 1, 1998 - Cisco Systems, Inc., today extended the range of options for the Catalyst. 5000/5500 series of intelligent multilayer switches. This announcement further reinforces Cisco commitment to provide end-to-end application aware networks and protect customer's investments in the Catalyst 5500 series of enterprise solutions.

The new modules announced today are the NetFlow Feature Card II, the Supervisor III FSX engine and Fast EtherChannel/Gigabit EtherChannel. uplink modules. All of these extend Layer 3 and Layer 4 switching, high-bandwidth uplink options and Cisco IOS. software intelligence while maintaining backward compatibility with the current installed base of Catalyst infrastructures.

In conjunction with today's announcement of the new Catalyst 4000 and Catalyst 2948G wiring closet platforms, these solutions fit seamlessly into high performance enterprise networks and can operate in a range of configurations. For further information, please refer to today's press release entitled, "Cisco Expands Gigabit and Wiring Closet Solutions with Catalyst 4000 and Catalyst 2948G."

"With the introduction of the NFFC II for the Catalyst 5500 Series, Cisco enables customers to identify and prioritize data from their mission critical applications," says Soni Jiandani, Director of LAN switching for Cisco Systems. "This capability is a key element for customers looking to deploy an intelligent network solution that is application aware."

Enabling CiscoAssure on the Catalyst 5500

The NetFlow Feature Card II (NFFC II) is a plug-in daughter module that fits on any Supervisor III engine and extends the Catalyst 5000/5500 family architecture to include the CiscoAssure end-to-end QoS capabilities. Deployed in a wiring closet, the NFFC II can identify, classify and prioritize mission critical applications and provide the performance necessary for next-generation enterprise networks.

Another NFFC II feature, Admission Control, delivers security and bandwidth protection by enabling network administrators to restrict which applications are allowed access into the network. With the NFFC II, the Catalyst 5500/5000 Series switch introduces a new level of intelligence that will enable application aware networking down to the wiring closet. Additionally, the NFFC II enables multi-layer switching, NetFlow accounting and data export, protocol filtering, IGMP snooping and enhanced multicast packet replication.

Cost-effective, Reliable Performance

To further provide customers with a cost-effective solutions, Cisco is also announcing a new Supervisor engine with integrated 1000BaseX capabilities that provides a lower entry cost for high performance switching in the wiring closet on Catalyst 5000/5500 platforms.

When combined with Cisco's 24 port 10/100 Catalyst 5000/5500 modules, this Supervisor module enables a full-featured Layer 2 10/100/1000 Mbit/s solution for intelligent wiring closets throughout the enterprise. This can be upgraded to an advanced multi-layer solution by adding the NFFC II onto the Supervisor engine.

To further Cisco's goal of reliability, load balancing and fault-tolerance, the company is also announcing a new 4-port Fast EtherChannel uplink card. In addition to supporting Fast EtherChannel capabilities that enable up to 800 Mbit/s of resilient bandwidth, the new 4-port uplink card supports Fast ISL, 802.1p, 802.1Q and Layer 3 inline rewrite. These features and functionality give networking professionals the tools they need to maintain a robust network with minimal downtime.

Also being announced is the general availability of the ATM Fabric Integration module and the Network Analysis Module. These solutions demonstrate Cisco's dedication to provide maximum flexibility and a wide range of options for the industry-leading Catalyst 5500 platform.

Availability and Further Information

The NetFlow Feature Card II is available at the end of the year. The Supervisor III FSX is available now. The 4-port Fast EtherChannel card, the Fabric Integration Module and the Network Analysis Module are also available now. For more information on Cisco's Catalyst 5000/5500 family, see our Catalyst 5000/5500 Family Web Site

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