China Supports Advanced Applications for Internet Users and Educational Centers; Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System Chosen to Power China's CERNET

Business Wire, Sept 21, 2005

BEIJING -- Cisco Systems(R) today announced that the China Education and Research Network (CERNET), the world's largest education network, will deploy the Cisco(R) CRS-1 Carrier Routing System to upgrade its national backbone network and enhance overall network performance. CERNET is a nationwide education and research computer network funded by the Chinese government and directly managed by the Chinese Ministry of Education.

The Cisco CRS-1, which can be configured to process up to 92 terabits--or a trillion bits--of data per second, will significantly enhance the overall information infrastructure in China, as well as provide a platform for CERNET to develop next-generation Internet applications.

The CERNET network links more than 1,000 major universities and research institutions with more than 20 million users in China. The network is not only used as an education and resource network but is also an integral part of the Internet backbone in China.

The Cisco CRS-1 will be deployed in CERNET's core network nodes in five cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Nanjing. The enhancement to the network at these core city hubs creates greater operational efficiencies and increases the network's capacity to provide the fast-growing end-user base with advanced applications.

"Cisco is proud to continue our cooperation with CERNET and support the ongoing development and innovation of the Internet in China. We are very pleased to have been selected by CERNET as they expand the capacity of China's leading education and research network," said Owen Chan, President of Asia Pacific Operations, Cisco Systems.

The Cisco CRS-1 is a new class of routing system designed to deliver continuous system operations, service flexibility and extended system longevity to telecommunications service providers and research organizations. The capacity to route 92 terabits per second is equivalent to downloading the entire printed collection of the U.S. Library of Congress in 4.6 seconds.

Professor Li Xing, deputy director, of the CERNET Network Center said, "With the increase in the number of Internet users and the development of advanced Internet applications, the current 2.5-gigabits-per-second standard backbone network is overburdened. The Cisco CRS-1 will greatly enhance the performance of the CERNET backbone network and will create new opportunities for the development of China's education and scientific research capabilities.

The Cisco CRS-1 enables reliable, large-scale delivery of high-bandwidth applications, such as video on demand, and real-time interactivity which is important as customers seek to scale network capacity to new levels and deliver next-generation services to cope with demand in China's rapidly developing broadband market. China's Internet population reached 103 million in June, 2005, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.

Deployments of Cisco's CRS-1 in large wide-area networks such as CERNET are laying the foundation for the "IP Next-Generation Network," or IP NGN. And as the next-generation Internet continues to grow, Cisco's technology is enabling significant advances. This includes those demonstrated in CERNET's Beijing and Tianjin trials in December 2004. The trials achieved a speed of 40 gigabits per second, the fastest in the world for real-time applications.

About CERNET

CERNET has a four-layer hierarchy (the nation-wide backbone, regional networks, provincial networks and campus networks). CERNET National Center is located in Tsinghua University, which is responsible for operation and management of CERNET backbone nationwide. The 10 regional network centers and main nodes are distributed in Tsinghua University, Beijing University, Beijing University of Post and Telecommunication, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Central China University of Science and Technology, South China Institute of Technology, China University of Electronic Science, Southeast University and Northeast University, which are responsible for operation, management, planning and construction of CERNET regional backbones.

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