Enterasys SecureStack C3 Offers Cost-Effective IPv6 Support and 10-Gigabit Ethernet Connectivity With Limited Lifetime Warranty

1.5 Terabit Architecture Delivers Over Half a Billion Packets per Second Throughput and Advances High-Availability Stacking for Voice/Video/Data Convergence


ANDOVER, MA--(Marketwire - September 15, 2008) - Enterasys Networks Inc., the Secure Networks Company™, today announced the new Enterasys® SecureStack™ C3 designed for Gigabit and 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) access at the network edge. Advanced QoS features automatically discover, classify and prioritize voice, video and data applications such as IP telephony, HD video conferencing and business intelligence analytics. Redundant power supplies ensure availability while standards-based IEEE 802.3af power over Ethernet (PoE) options support network devices that require external power, such as wireless access points, VoIP telephones, and IP security cameras. Unique What You Need Is What You Get (WYNIWYG) identity-based policies assure service level agreement (SLA) requirements and proactively prevent security incidents based on user and application privileges that ensure only the right users have access to the right information from the right place at the right time. These role-based policies align network resource utilization with business goals and priorities without impacting performance or reliability.

"The new 10 Gigabit offerings from Enterasys clearly show the growth of the 10 Gigabit Ethernet market and Enterasys's commitment to that market," said Steven J. Schuchart, Jr., Principal Analyst at Current Analysis. "Enterasys is delivering greater capacity with embedded policy-based security and QoS with no sacrifice in performance."

The new SecureStack C3 products are complemented by the Enterasys Dragon® Multi-Gigabit Intrusion Detection and Prevention appliances and the recently announced Distributed Intrusion Prevention solution. The intelligent, automated integration of the new security-enabled C3 switching/routing hardware with the Enterasys Dragon and NetSight® software delivers open-architecture network access control (NAC) and enables enterprises to predict and prevent threats and vulnerabilities by pinpointing the root-cause of network security incidents.

"The new SecureStack C3 is simply the best combination of wire-speed performance, advanced security and management features we have evaluated -- at a lower cost than the previous C2 stackable offerings from Enterasys," said Fritz Bütikofer, Chief of the Network Group of IT Services of the University of Bern. "If you want the industry's best support, rock-solid reliability and advanced security that is very affordable -- you should talk to Enterasys. They deliver on their promises and are easy to work with."

The new Enterasys SecureStack C3 provides high port density in a single rack unit footprint and is environmentally friendly by design. The C3 stackable switch supports a maximum of 384 triple-speed copper ports with power over Ethernet (PoE), 192 Gigabit SFP fiber ports, and 16 XFP 10GbE connections. IPv4, IPv6 and IP Multicast routing is supported along with virtual router redundancy protocol (VRRP) and equal cost multi-path (ECMP) topology protocol. Wire-speed performance of 571.2 million packets per second throughput and 1.54 terabits per second of bandwidth is maintained even when advanced L2/L3/L4 rate limiting, packet filtering or security quarantine features are enabled. Eight hardware-based QoS priority queues are available per port with support for 16,000 Layer 2 MAC addresses and 1024 VLANs. SNMPv3 provides secure network management capabilities.

The Enterasys SecureStack C3:

--  Identifies and classifies incoming traffic
--  Discovers attached users, applications and devices (LLDP-MED)
--  Authenticates them using 802.1X, Web or MAC authentication
--  Enforces priority or security policies through wire-speed rate
    limiting, filtering or forwarding decisions
--  Leverages industry-standard IPv4/IPv6 routing, VRRP, ECMP, LACP, RSTP,
    SNMPv3, RMON, and IP Multicast (IPMC) support
    

Enterasys NetSight management software avoids the need for manual reconfiguration every time there is a move, add or change. Define the policies once, and Enterasys keeps up with all the mobility, expansion and modification automatically. The network access control (NAC) privileges for an authenticated user or device are enforced dynamically, regardless of wired or wireless connectivity. The end result is high-performance capacity increases that leverage the multi-vendor management and embedded security operational expertise of Enterasys over the past 25 years.

Pricing and Availability

The Enterasys SecureStack C3 pricing starts at $145 per port US list price. A no-hassle limited lifetime warranty featuring advance replacement and no-charge firmware upgrades is included at no additional cost. The C3 stackable switches are available immediately from authorized Enterasys distributors and value-added resellers worldwide. The SecureStack C3 is backed by the industry-leading Enterasys Global Technical Assistance Center (GTAC). Enterasys does not outsource or off-shore support. The skilled technicians that staff the Enterasys GTAC have an average tenure of 10+ years and a cultural commitment to help quickly solve a problem, regardless of the vendor involved, without pointing fingers.

About Enterasys Networks

Enterasys is owned by a private investor group led by The Gores Group, LLC and Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC. Enterasys delivers Secure Networks™ that ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of IT services and the business users that rely on them -- without sacrificing performance. Thousands of enterprises, government agencies and educational institutions in more than 70 countries worldwide rely on our convergence, compliance and connectivity solutions to deliver business-oriented, identity-based visibility and control of individual user and application priority and security. The company's culture is centered on the principle, "There is nothing more important than our customers." Enterasys' standards-based, open-architecture approach to network security offers a long technology lifecycle and significant operational and business benefits, while reducing total cost of ownership. Information about Enterasys' award winning, policy-enabled switches, routers, wireless products, security software and services is available at www.enterasys.com.

About The Gores Group

Founded in 1987, The Gores Group, LLC is a private equity firm focused on acquiring controlling interests in mature and growing businesses which can benefit from the firm's operating experience and flexible capital base. The firm combines the operational expertise and detailed due diligence capabilities of a strategic buyer with the seasoned M&A team of a traditional financial buyer. The Gores Group, LLC has become a leading investor having demonstrated over time a reliable track record of creating substantial value in its portfolio companies alongside management. The firm's current private equity fund has committed equity capital of $1.3 billion. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, The Gores Group, LLC maintains offices in Boulder, Colorado and London. For more information, please visit www.gores.com.

About Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC

Tennenbaum Capital Partners is a Santa Monica, California-based private investment firm managing over $7.5 billion in committed capital in private funds. The firm's investment strategy is grounded in a long-term, value approach, and it assists -- both financially and operationally -- transitional middle market companies in such industries as technology, healthcare, energy, aerospace, business services, retail and general manufacturing. Tennenbaum's core strengths include in-depth knowledge of equity and debt financing vehicles in the public and private markets, as well as a thorough understanding of special situations. For more information, please visit www.tennenbaumcapital.com.

Contact Information: Contact: Trent Waterhouse Enterasys Networks +1 978 684 1506 trent@enterasys.com Michelle Barry BridgeView Marketing +1 603 809 2748 michelle@bridgeviewmarketing.com