New 3Com Technology Breaks Price/Performance Barrier to Deliver Workgroup
Switching at the Cost of Shared Media Hubs

WORKGROUP-OPTIMIZED ARCHITECTURE MAKES ACCESS TO SERVERS AND BACKBONE
NETWORKS FAST, LOW COST AND SIMPLE

May 8, 1995 -- SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- 3Com Corporation today unveiled a new
generation of SuperStack LinkSwitch workgroup switches that, for the first
time, offer users the performance of wire-speed switching at the low cost
of shared media technologies. The new products - the SuperStack LinkSwitch
1000, LinkSwitch 2200 and LinkSwitch 3000 Ethernet and Fast Ethernet
workgroup switches - have prices starting as low as $199 (U.S.) per port.

Optimized for specific high-speed networking technologies (Fast Ethernet,
FDDI and ATM) and for low price, the LinkSwitch products now enable users
to affordably deploy switching closer to end-stations - on the floor or in
the wiring closet - to more effectively increase network performance. The
new 3Com products also enable users to clear server bottlenecks and access
high-speed backbones without requiring any changes in their current
cabling infrastructures or desktop systems.

Powered by 3Com's application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and
cost-effectively packaged in 3Com's industry-leading SuperStack stackable
system format, the new products offer Ethernet-to-high-speed workgroup
switching at a low price and with high aggregate bandwidth of up to 310
Mbps. The new products switch to all popular high-speed network
technologies and will be available within 60 days.

The new products also offer a lower price, better performance, a wider
choice of high-speed network interfaces and better manageability than
competing switches.

"3Com is meeting customer needs for more bandwidth, a broad choice of
network technologies and a way to scale their networks cost-effectively
and without altering their cabling or desktops," said Edgar Masri, vice
president, marketing, 3Com's Hub Division. "We have optimized these new
products to provide workgroups with high speed at low cost, without
sacrificing aggregate bandwidth, scalability or manageability. They
represent another significant step forward in delivering our
enterprise-wide High Performance Scalable Networking architecture, a
seamless growth path to higher bandwidth whenever and wherever it is
needed."

"3Com has just made it easy and affordable for switching to penetrate all
levels of an organization's network from the backbone to small workgroups
with the introduction of the LinkSwitch family," said Glenn Gabriel
Ben-Yosef, president of Clear Thinking Research, Inc., Boston. "Based on
technology previously available only from its higher end switches, the
LinkSwitch family delivers 3Com's promise of providing high performance
scalable networking across the enterprise."

Choice of High-Performance, Feature-Rich Workgroup Switches

The new LinkSwitch products offer a choice of full-rate switched Ethernet
(10 Mbps) or Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) for connecting groups of users or
individuals. In addition, they offer a choice of full-rate switching to
all popular high-speed technologies, including FDDI (100 Mbps), Fast
Ethernet (100 Mbps) and ATM (155 Mbps OC3 or 45 Mbps DS3), for server and
backbone connections.

With an aggregate bandwidth of 220 Mbps, the LinkSwitch 1000 switch has 24
switched Ethernet ports, a switched Fast Ethernet port and an optional
slide-in module with a Fast Ethernet port. With an aggregate bandwidth of
130 Mbps, the LinkSwitch 2200 switch has 16 switched Ethernet ports and a
high-speed FDDI (DAS) port. With an aggregate bandwidth of 310 Mbps, the
LinkSwitch 3000 switch has five fiber-based Fast Ethernet ports, one
twisted-pair Fast Ethernet port and an optional slide-in module with a
Fast Ethernet port (fiber or twisted pair).

The LinkSwitch workgroup family offers a rich variety of features, such as
multiple MAC addresses per port, cut through, store and forward, SNMP
management, RMON, LAN emulation and IP fragmentation. All new LinkSwitch
products have built-in Virtual LAN support, allowing network managers to
logically group, add, move and change users, regardless of their physical
network connection.

The new SuperStack LinkSwitch products complement the previously introduced
LinkSwitch 500, LinkSwitch 1200 and LinkSwitch 2700 stackable workgroup
switches, as well as 3Com SuperStack shared media hubs and routers,
CELLplex and LANplex data center switches, and full family of adapters for
desktop computers. These products - all managed by 3Com's Transcend
workgroup and enterprise network management applications - comprise a
complete and affordable workgroup networking solution for any business
environment.

Workgroup-Optimized Architecture and SuperStack Format Delivers a Fast,
Low-Cost, Simple Solution

Each new SuperStack LinkSwitch is optimized for a particular high-speed
network technology to meet today's workgroup performance and price
requirements. Each is also based on 3Com's new, second-generation switch
architecture, whose core technology includes 3Com ASICs: the BRASICA chip
for Fast Ethernet, the ISE chip for FDDI and ZipChip for ATM. The
workgroup-optimized architecture features advancements in distributed
memory design, intelligent flow management, an elastic buffering scheme
and new address learning/forwarding mechanisms. Together, these
advancements deliver zero packet loss, maximum throughput and lower cost.
The SuperStack architecture also enables users to start with a single
workgroup switch at a low cost of entry, then incrementally stack
additional switches as needed.

In addition to being fast and low-cost, SuperStack LinkSwitch switches are
simple to install and operate. The new LinkSwitch products install as
easily as traditional repeating hubs, plug and play with existing networks
and integrate seamlessly with 3Com LinkBuilder FMS II hubs - and other
SuperStack products - via the SuperStack system architecture.

All SuperStack components, including the new LinkSwitch workgroup switches,
are easily managed - with the same look and feel - by the 3Com Transcend
Workgroup and Enterprise Manager applications.

Pricing and Availability

The LinkSwitch 1000 will be available in July with a U.S. list price of
$199 per port. The LinkSwitch 2200 will be available on May 30 with a U.S.
list price of $625 per port. The LinkSwitch 3000 will be available in
December with a U.S. list price of under $1,666 per port. 3Com products
are available through the company's worldwide distribution channels.

LinkSwitch products will also be available as modules for 3Com's
LinkBuilder MSH hub, a versatile chassis-based, floor-distribution system
specifically designed for large, multi-technology, multi-services
networks.

Founded in 1979, 3Com Corporation (NASDAQ:COMS) pioneered the networking
industry. Today, 3Com offers customers a broad range of ISO 9000-compliant
global data networking solutions that include routers, hubs, switches, and
adapters for Ethernet, Token Ring and high-speed networks. Headquartered
in Santa Clara, Calif., 3Com is one of the networking industry's largest
companies with worldwide research and development, manufacturing,
marketing, sales and support capabilities.

 ============================================================
 From the  'New Product News'  Electronic News Service on....
 AOL (Keyword = New Products) & Delphi (GO COMPUTING PRODUCT)
 ============================================================
 This information was processed from data provided by the 
 company or author mentioned. For additional details, please 
 contact them directly at the address/phone number indicated.
 All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
 ============================================================
 All submissions for this service should be addressed to:
 BAKER ENTERPRISES,  20 Ferro Dr,  Sewell, NJ  08080  U.S.A.
 Email: RBakerPC (AOL/Delphi), rbakerpc@delphi.com (Internet)
 ============================================================
