News and Events

2003

FORCE10 NETWORKS AND IBM SIGN MULTI-TIERED WORLDWIDE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

MILPITAS, Calif., October 27, 2003 — Force10 Networks, Inc. announced today that IBM and Force10 have signed a worldwide partnership agreement whereby IBM will resell the E-Series E1200/600 high density Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet product family. In addition, IBM Global Services will provide end-to-end support for the E-Series switch/routers – including consulting, implementation, and technical assistance center (TAC) support – for enterprise customers worldwide.

“IBM is driving the benefits of grid computing beyond its academic and research roots and into business enterprises in key industries such as financial markets, life sciences, aerospace, automotive and governments, to name a few,” said Thomas A. Knapp, Linux practice principal at IBM. “We have the knowledge and experience to build Linux clusters with large numbers of nodes using IBM technology and are always evaluating innovative Ethernet products. We deployed Force10’s E-Series in several grid computing projects. We are pleased with the performance, scalability, reliability and software stability offered by the E-Series platform and will resell them in density and performance-sensitive applications.”

“The E-Series has connected hundreds of nodes containing IBM servers and storage systems in numerous grids over the past year,” said Marc Randall, president and CEO, Force10 Networks. “We have been able to demonstrate high availability performance and the ability to scale network capacity to meet the high standards set by IBM and its customers. We believe that Force10 is well positioned to serve the grid/clustering needs of Fortune 500 companies by combining best-in-class technology with the proven customer support delivered by IBM – the world's largest information technology services provider.”

Force10 Networks E-Series is purpose-built for high performance grid, clustering and utility computing applications. Grids allow geographically distributed organizations to share applications, data and high capacity computing resources. The network fabric that connects the vast number of computing and storage resources plays a critical role in successful operation of the grid. The E-Series addresses these requirements by offering ultra high density, line-rate Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet switching and routing ports, along with a platform the delivers high availability as well as modular software stability.

Force10 Networks and IBM also entered a manufacturing partnership whereby IBM builds the EtherScale ASICs used within the E-Series platform. In addition, Force10 augments the E-Series system with IBM’s PowerPC processors. Together, IBM and Force10 deliver high density, high performance solutions, from networking infrastructure through deployment and on to frontline support.

About IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information about IBM's Grid computing business, visit http://www.ibm.com/grid.

Contact:
Peter Ruzicka
Force10 Networks Inc.
408-965-5151
pruzicka@force10networks.com

Contact:
Jennifer Arculeo
Force10 Networks Inc.
408-965-5194
jarculeo@force10networks.com

About Force10 Networks
Force10 Networks is the pioneer in building and securing high performance networks. 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 www.force10networks.com.

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