Brookhaven National Labs Selects Force10 Networks to Power Research Activities and Campus LAN

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
Force10 Networks, the technology leader for building and securing intelligent
services networks, today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy`s
Brookhaven National Labs has selected the ExaScale family of virtualized
switch/routers to help power its network. ExaScale was chosen largely based on
its industry-leading density and performance characteristics, which are required
to satisfy the needs of its ongoing scientific research as well as the
day-to-day operations of its campus LAN.

"For more than 60 years, the U.S. Department of Energy`s Brookhaven National
Laboratory has been pushing the boundaries of numerous scientific disciplines,
and that has always required cutting-edge research tools," said Vincent
Bonafede, manager of the Network Operations Group for Brookhaven Lab. "To
explore new frontiers of science, it is important to use a next-generation,
high-performance network with ultra-high, non-blocking throughput like the
ExaScale E-Series."

High Performance Needed Even Under Extreme Network Load

The stability, density and performance that the ExaScale switch/router provides
for Brookhaven utilizes third-generation Force10 technology that incorporates
patent-protected innovations and design advances to deliver unmatched
non-blocking line-rate Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and 10 GbE densities. With support
for 140 line-rate 10 GbE SFP+ ports per chassis, the ExaScale E-Series is the
only switch/router with 100 Gbps of useable data capacity per slot today. In
addition to capacity, the E1200 delivers an industry-leading total throughput of
more than two billion packets per second across a switching fabric capacity of
up to 3.5 Tbps or 250 Gbps full duplex per slot. Utilizing the capacity of the
switching fabric, ExaScale delivers continuous non-blocking, line-rate
throughput that eliminates network bottlenecks, regardless of packet size or
enabled features.

"Brookhaven Lab is a key player in such international research projects as the
lab`s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the ATLAS experiment at CERN in
Switzerland," said Frank Burstein, senior network engineer at Brookhaven. "We
need a non-stop reliable network with the density and performance
characteristics required to operate under extreme load. Force10 fits our needs
with its high-availability platforms, which offer high performance at full load
even with full layer 3 applications implemented. Force10 also provides us with a
100Gbps-ready platform for the future of our scientific research, which was an
important consideration in our choosing it."

"In conjunction with the needs of our scientific research we also had to address
a high- performance core networking requirement for our campus LAN," Burstein
added. "Stability, density and performance are instrumental in order to keep our
network available for day-to-day operations. This core must be fully
interoperable with industry standards and our existing installed network
equipment. The easy management and configuration of the Force10 products is
attributable to a simple command line management structure familiar to us.
Implementing the Force10 operating system was also easy and helps simplify
building networks and existing systems in a multi-vendor environment."

The Force10 Reliable Networking product portfolio supports advances in
reliability, network control and scalability that enable businesses and network
operators to lower their total cost of ownership. By building a flexible network
that is ready to support emerging and evolving applications, customers can
optimize their networks for current needs as well as future requirements.

About Force10 Networks

Force10 Networks is a technology leader that provides the reliable next
generation infrastructure required to build and secure intelligent services
networks. Force10`s products deliver the scalability, reliability and
application awareness to cost-effectively deliver content from the enterprise or
converged network to the mobile business user or consumer. For more information
on Force10 Networks, please visit www.force10networks.com.

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

Force10 Networks
Kevin Wade, 707-665-4509
kwade@force10networks.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009