Force10 Chooses Ixia to Verify Industry-Leading Performance and Throughput of TeraScale E-Series Switch/Routers

Business Wire, Oct 13, 2004

MILPITAS, Calif. -- Force10 Networks today announced that The Tolly Group verified the industry-leading performance of the Force10 TeraScale E-Series switch/routers using sophisticated IP network testing solutions from Ixia (Nasdaq:XXIA). During the tests, Ixia equipment was used to verify that the Force10 TeraScale E-Series processes one billion packets per second across an unprecedented 672 line-rate Gigabit Ethernet and 56 line-rate 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports in a single chassis. Based on the results, The Tolly Group named the Force10 TeraScale E-Series the first Terabit Ethernet switch/router.

"The Force10 TeraScale E-Series has Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet port densities that shatter industry standards and to verify that density in a testing situation presented a challenge," said Andrew Feldman, Force10's vice president of marketing. "Ixia's sophisticated Optixia and IXIA 1600T testing tools allowed us to demonstrate the line-rate throughput of the TeraScale E-Series and confirm that it is the industry's first Terabit Ethernet switch/router."

In the testing configuration, the Force10 TeraScale E-Series was connected to Ixia's 1600T and Optixia traffic generators and analyzers to validate performance and throughput. During the tests, the TeraScale E-Series demonstrated the following industry firsts:

--The industry's highest throughput, processing one billion packets per second

--The industry's highest scalability, supporting one million ACLs with no performance degradation

--The industry's highest Gigabit Ethernet density with 672 line-rate ports

--The industry's highest 10 Gigabit Ethernet density with 56 line-rate ports

--The industry's first line-rate 48-port Gigabit Ethernet line card

The Force10 TeraScale E-Series also demonstrated line-rate IPv6 forwarding and line-rate aggregation of 40 Gigabit Ethernet ports into four 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports, both with zero packet loss. Additionally, the tests confirmed the resiliency features of the TeraScale E-Series with zero packet loss hitless failover of key components, including the switch fabrics and route processor modules.

"Optixia is the industry's highest port density test solution and the best suited to verify Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet throughput at this scale, as well as the processing capacity of the TeraScale E-Series," said Alan Amrod, vice president of marketing at Ixia. "During the tests, the Tolly Group confirmed that without the Optixia, the testing could not have scaled to the performance level that next generation products like the TeraScale E-Series deliver."

The Force10 TeraScale E1200 supports up to 56 line-rate 10 Gigabit Ethernet and 672 line-rate Gigabit Ethernet ports in a single chassis while the Force10 TeraScale E600 and E300 provide the same resilient architecture and scalable performance in smaller form factors. With a family of three chassis, Force10 can match bandwidth needs to customer budgets, providing the most cost-effective solution for small, medium, and large networks.

About Ixia

Ixia is a leading, global provider of high performance IP network testing solutions. Its highly scalable solutions generate, capture, characterize, and emulate network and application traffic, establishing definitive performance and conformance metrics of network devices or systems under test. Ixia's testing solutions are used by Network and Telephony Equipment Manufacturers, Semiconductor Manufacturers, Service Providers, and large Enterprises to validate the functionality, and reliability of complex IP networks, devices, and applications. Ixia's patented Real World Traffic(TM) Suite addresses the growing need to test applications and networks prior to deployment under realistic load conditions. Ixia's analysis solutions utilize a wide range of industry-standard interfaces and are distinguished by their performance, accuracy, reliability, and adaptability to the industry's constant evolution.

For more information, contact Ixia at 26601 W. Agoura Road, Calabasas, CA 91302; 818-871-1800, Fax: 818-871-1805; Email: info@ixiacom.com or visit our Web Site at http://www.ixiacom.com.

About Force10 Networks

Force10 Networks is the pioneer in high performance switching and routing. Based on a revolutionary system architecture that delivers best-in-class resiliency and massive scalability, Force10's TeraScale E-Series switch/routers ensure predictable application performance, increase network availability, and reduce operating costs. Today, many of the world's largest Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks depend on Force10 Networks. For additional information, please visit the company's website at www.force10networks.com.

Force10, E-Series, EtherScale, TeraScale and FTOS are trademarks of Force10 Networks, Inc. All other company names are trademarks of their respective holders.