New Catalyst 4912G enables up to 18 million packets per second and 24 gigabits of switching capacity for gigabit aggregation
- More information about Cisco's line of LAN Switches (including the Catalyst Family of Switches)
- More information about Cisco's Gigabit Ethernet Solutions
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- February 22, 1999 -- Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced the Catalyst. 4900 series of flexible gigabit Ethernet switches. This series of enterprise-class gigabit Ethernet aggregator products provide the performance and intelligence necessary to build end-to-end gigabit networks in a cost-effective manner.
The first product to be announced in the series is the Catalyst 4912G, which provides up to 12 ports of wire-speed gigabit Ethernet connectivity. The Catalyst 4912G has 24 gigabits of switching capacity and can switch 18 million packets per second. With a list price of under $10,000 for 12 ports, the Catalyst 4912G enables customers to cost effectively deploy gigabit Ethernet end-to-end.
"Gigabit Ethernet will play a key role in our network as we move forward to higher and higher bandwidth needs," said Kelly Carpenter, systems manager at the Washington University Genome Sequencing Center. "With the Catalyst 4912G's performance and a per port cost of about$1300, we can cost effectively deploy an end-to-end gigabit infrastructure."
The Catalyst 4912G uses the same ASIC-based switching fabric of the Catalyst 2948G and the modular 4000 Series switches but offers a low entry-cost and an incredibly small form factor for such a powerful switch of only 1.5 Rack Units (2.6" or 65 mm). The Catalyst 4912G broadens Cisco's Gigabit portfolio and demonstrates Cisco's commitment to the rapidly expanding gigabit Ethernet market.
Cisco is now the number one gigabit Ethernet infrastructure provider in terms of revenue and ports shipped. According to the latest Dell'Oro group report, gigabit Ethernet sales will increase from $270 million in 1998 to $4.8 billion in 2002.
The Catalyst 4912G can handle the most demanding network bandwidth situations and also utilizes Cisco's EtherChannel. technology to scale up to 8 Gbps of fault tolerant, load balancing bandwidth. The Catalyst 4912G supports 16,000 MAC addresses and 1,024 Virtual LANs (VLAN) to give network administrators flexibility and scalability.
The Catalyst 4912G supports the full set of features found in enterprise Catalyst System Software and intelligent Cisco IOS. software network services for high-speed network concentration. Not only does this ensure interoperability with other Catalyst switches (such as the Catalyst 4000/5000/6000 Series) but it provides the 4912G with a comprehensive set of Layer 2 features including options for advanced scalability (such as gigabit EtherChannel, Dynamic VLANs, 802.1Q Trunking), bandwidth management (QoS, protocol filtering, link load balancing), network resiliency (UplinkFast, PortFast, Spanning Tree), security (on a per port basis, user authentication, IP permit lists), and advanced management (embedded RMON, SNMP, CiscoView and CiscoWorks 2000).
The Catalyst 4900 series is designed to deliver flexible, powerful enterprise solutions that provide cost-effective, high performance products for Gigabit networks.
Also being announced today is the pricing and availability for the high-density 18-port gigabit Ethernet card for the modular Catalyst 4000 series. This module will be available in the first week of March, 1999 for a list price of $9,995 without Gigabit Interface Converters (GBIC)s.
Pricing and Availability
The Catalyst 4912G will be available in March, 1999 for $9,995 plus the cost of GBICs. GBICs start at $500 per port.Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet.Catalyst, EtherChannel, Cisco, Cisco IOS, Cisco Systems and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
