FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE        Contact:          Drew Miale                                                                                                                             Enterasys Networks

                                                                                    (978) 684-1201

                                                                                    dmiale@enterasys.com

 

ENTERASYS NETWORKS DELIVERS STANDARDS-BASED 10-GIGABIT ETHERNET MODULES FOR ITS ENTERASYS X-PEDITION ROUTERS AND ENTERASYS MATRIX SWITCHES

 

ROCHESTER, NH  December 16, 2002  Enterasys Networks Inc. (NYSE: ETS), a leading broadline provider of enterprise networking solutions, today announced new 10-Gigabit Ethernet modules for the Enterasys X-Pedition ER16 routers and Enterasys Matrix E1 OAS (Optical Access Switch).  The addition of 10-Gigabit Ethernet technology enables the Enterasys X-Pedition ER16 to continue to meet the rising performance and capacity requirements of enterprise customers, enabling real-time delivery of high-bandwidth, advanced applications across local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN) and metropolitan area network (MAN) environments.

 

“The new 10-Gigabit Ethernet modules for the Enterasys X-Pedition ER16 offer highly competitive price points and excellent performance, and are a significant addition to the ER16 routing platform.  In addition, customers can now benefit from the ability to run end-to-end 10-Gigabit Ethernet across an enterprise network when using these new modules and Enterasys’ Matrix E1 switches,” said Gil Arbel, executive vice president, product management and worldwide marketing, Enterasys Networks. 

 

As organizations continue to deploy videoconferencing, webcasts, intranets, e-commerce and other network-enabled communications, enterprises will continually require greater performance, efficiency, control, security and high-availability networking for their essential applications, regardless of location.  The new 10-Gigabit Ethernet modules for the Enterasys X-Pedition ER16 and Enterasys Matrix E1 OAS allow enterprises to utilize the network as a business tool to improve efficiency, reduce costs and increase productivity.  One organization that is planning to utilize these new modules is CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics.

 

“The aggregate data throughput for CERN’s next-generation particle collider, LHC, will exceed one terabit per second.  Within the framework of the CERN openlab for DataGrid applications, we are preparing for this enormous data challenge, in partnership with Enterasys Networks.  As a long-time user of Enterasys Gigabit solutions, and one of the first adopters of  Enterasys’ X-Pedition technology, we look forward to utilizing the new X-Pedition modules to build Gigabit capability for the data-intensive grid infrastructure that we are currently developing for the LHC,” said Wolfgang von Ruden, Division Leader of Information Technology at CERN.

 

The 10-Gigabit Ethernet modules, based on the IEEE 802.3ae standard, complement the ER16’s wide range of existing connectivity options, including Gigabit Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, WAN (HSSI and serial), ATM/OC-3 and FDDI, with each offering a comprehensive set of features for security, traffic prioritization and management.  This broad range of connectivity options allows customers the flexibility to run multiple technologies or migrate between technologies at their own pace – all in a single platform. 

The new 10-Gigabit Ethernet module for the Matrix E1 OAS, a replacement for the currently shipping pre-standard 10-Gigabit module, provides end-to-end 10-Gigabit Ethernet support to any standard-compliant device. 

 

Enterasys’ comprehensive set of 10-Gigabit technology offerings provides customers with investment protection and enables them to increase productivity by accommodating the bandwidth intensive voice, video, data and storage applications of today and tomorrow.

 

The Enterasys X-Pedition ER16 is a 16 slot, modular Layer 2/3/4 switch router that provides outstanding capacity, performance and a complete set of application services, enabling enterprises to optimize and control their networks to meet critical business goals.  The ER16 offers a comprehensive set of application services, including traffic prioritization, traffic shaping, multilayer security, application load balancing, application content verification and high-availability.  These advanced services provide critical control of business-centric applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), multimedia, database, and converged voice, video and data applications. 

 

The Enterasys Matrix E1 OAS is a 12-port Gigabit Ethernet standalone switch with 10-Gigabit uplink capabilities, ideally deployed as a high-speed aggregation device when multiple 1-Gigabit Ethernet segments are aggregated to a central location such as a data center or server farm. With two Matrix E1 OAS devices, two groups of up to 12 Gigabit Ethernet devices can be connected with a single fiber optic cable pair. As a result, the Matrix E1 OAS provides a cost-effective alternative to trunking multiple Gigabit Ethernet segments between two points, either within a building or campus, since only a single fiber optic pair is needed to make the connection. Prior to the innovative Matrix E1 OAS, customers needed to use port trunking to aggregate multiple Gigabit segments, a solution that consumed a fiber segment for each port.

 

Both 10-Gigabit Ethernet offerings will be available on January 31, 2003.  For more information, visit www.enterasys.com.

 

About Enterasys Networks

 

Enterasys Networks (NYSE: ETS) is a leading worldwide provider of broadline intelligent data networking infrastructures for enterprise-class customers.  Enterasys’ networking hardware and software offerings deliver the innovative security, availability and mobility solutions required by Global 2000 organizations coupled with the industry’s strongest service and support.  For more information on Enterasys and its products, including multilayer switches and routers, wireless LANs, VPN, network management, and intrusion detection systems (IDS), visit www.enterasys.com.

 

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This press release contains projections and other forward-looking statements regarding the future revenue, cash flows and other financial performance of the Company or other future events and circumstances, and actual results, events and circumstances could differ materially. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts or guarantees of future performance, and are based on current estimates and numerous assumptions. These estimates and assumptions reflect subjective judgments concerning future events and circumstances and may be incomplete or incorrect, and unanticipated events or circumstances may occur causing these estimates and assumptions to be wrong. Risks that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those described in the projections or forward-looking statements include business disruption and market perceptions associated with the company's internal and the Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation relating to the Company's financial reporting, economic trends associated with the recent terrorist activities experienced in the United States and any continuation or repercussions thereof or responses thereto, as well as risks associated with competitive conditions, pricing and margin pressures as a result of product shifts and changes in market dynamics, greater use of, and expenses associated with, distributors and resellers, limited management resources and recent management turnover, the Company's acquisition strategy, extension or deterioration of prevailing economic conditions, risks related to the timing, completion and results of the investigation being conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, volatility in the stock markets and market valuations being placed on communications infrastructure and service companies, technological changes, intellectual property protection and related issues, dependence on suppliers and contract manufacturers, and potential volatility in operating results, among others. The Company's estimates that it will achieve breakeven cash flow from operations by the fourth quarter of 2002 and that its existing cash balance will be sufficient to meet its on-going cash needs for the foreseeable future are based on projections of, among other things, revenues, margins, costs and expenses, any of which could be adversely affected by many of the factors described above. Adverse changes in assumptions relating to revenues, margins, costs and expenses could have the effect of delaying the Company's achievement of breakeven cash flow from operations beyond 2002, if at all. For a more detailed discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties related to the company's business, please refer to the most recent filings of Enterasys Networks, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Enterasys Network's annual report on Form 10-K for the ten month transition period ended December 29,2001.