Bay Networks Launches New Fast Ethernet And ATM Switching Products

Reinforces Company's Comprehensive Switching Strategy For Providing Market
Leading Performance, Scalability, Flexibility and Manageability

SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 7, 1996 -- Reflecting the requirement for high
performance, standards-based Fast Ethernet and ATM switching solutions
that leverage existing network investments and provide well-defined
migration paths, Bay Networks, Inc. (NYSE: BAY) today announced six new
switching products. Based on the company's FastFrame Fast Ethernet and
Centillion ATM technologies, the new products strengthen Bay Networks'
commitment to deliver a full range of network center, segment and desktop
switching solutions.

Expanding on Bay Networks' market-leading System 28000 Fast Ethernet
switch, Centillion 100 Multi-LAN/ATM switch and System 5000 Enterprise
Hub, the new products include:

* the Model 28200 Modular Ethernet Switch;
* Ethernet-to-FDDI for the 58000 Fast Ethernet switching module
  for the System 5000;
* Centillion 100 EtherSpeed 10/100 module;
* 4-port Centillion 100 ATMSpeed/155 module;
* 4-port Centillion 100 ATMSpeed/155 Master Control Processor (MCP)
  Module;
* and the industry's most complete standards-based ATM LAN emulation
  (LANE) software capabilities for the Centillion 100.

"The demand for improved system-wide network performance to alleviate
bottlenecks in existing networks is increasingly being matched by that
same requirement for new bandwidth-intensive applications that need
Quality of Service guarantees," said Andy Ludwick, Bay Networks' president
and chief executive officer. "Bay Networks is satisfying these demands by
delivering flexible, backbone- and edge-based switching products for Fast
Ethernet and ATM environments alike - all benefiting from a common set of
network management applications."

High Speed, High Performance Switching with the Centillion 100

A built-in ATM fabric, Token Ring and Ethernet switching capabilities, and
new Fast Ethernet and ATM modules, enable the Centillion 100 to offer
maximum flexibility in meeting customers' high speed switching technology
requirements.

The new EtherSpeed 10/100 Switching Module provides eight 10BASE-T and two
100BASE-TX ports on each module, allowing organizations to build Fast
Ethernet-based server clusters that deliver low latency, high performance
access to corporate resources. This flexibility enables Fast Ethernet
servers and Ethernet desktops to be configured into the same logical
subnet through network-wide virtual LANs (VLANs). This eliminates the
administrative difficulties often associated with the centralization of
file servers.

The new Centillion 100 ATMSpeed/155 Master Control Process (MCP) Module and
ATMSpeed/155 Switching Module each have four 155 Mbps ports. This allows
the aggregation of up to 24 OC-3c ports into a single switch, with 7.2
Gbps of high performance backbone switching for the network center.

Standards-Based ATM Features Complement GIGArray Capabilities

The widely deployed Centillion GIGArray technology encapsulates frames in
ATM cells, delivering a scalable, high speed, low latency backbone
transport that doesn't force customers to adopt ATM LANE. The new LANE
capabilities announced today are fully interoperable with GIGArray,
enabling users to load LANE only on those switches that are directly
attached to other ATM switches or to the ATM interface on servers. This
flexibility provides both simplicity and multivendor interoperability over
ATM.

The Centillion 100 offers the most complete standards-based LANE software
functionality in the industry. New capabilities include ATM
Forum-compliant LANE, featuring redundant, load sharing for Ethernet and
Token Ring LANE services and distributed LANE clients. These capabilities,
combined with the ATM Routing Engine on the Bay Networks VNR, allow
customers to build robust, high performance multivendor Ethernet, Token
Ring and ATM switched internetworks.

The new Centillion software also includes the ATM Forum Switch Signaling
Protocol (IISP), ensuring interoperability between the Centillion 100 and
switches from other vendors. In addition, the software offers ATM Forum
User-to-Network interface (UNI) 3.0 and 3.1 switched virtual circuit (SVC)
signaling, allowing UNI 3.0 systems to interoperate with newer UNI 3.1
systems over a Centillion 100 network.

Modular Ethernet Switching for the Wiring Closet and Desktop

Implemented on a 2 Gbps FastFrame fabric, the new 28200 Modular Ethernet
Switch lets network managers mix and match up to four 10 Mbps Ethernet,
100 Mbps Ethernet or FDDI media-dependent adapters to improve the
performance of their Ethernet LANs and provide high speed connections for
multiple Fast Ethernet servers and backbone links.

Each 28200 can be configured for up to 32 10 Mbps switched Ethernet ports,
eight switched 100 Mbps Ethernet ports and one Ethernet-to-FDDI interface.
The ability to cascade 28200 switches over a 400 Mbps full duplex cascaded
connection, coupled with a wide variety of media support, provides
unmatched flexibility for either desktop or segment switching.

A single, network-wide virtual LAN (VLAN) architecture is supported across
the entire 28000 Fast Ethernet switch family. Utilizing the
LANarchitect(tm) feature available via Optivity" - Bay Networks'
industry-leading network management system for the company's switches,
hubs, routers and access devices - customers benefit from integrated,
end-to-end shared and switched VLAN management.

FDDI-to-Ethernet Switching for the System 5000

Utilizing a sophisticated multibackplane architecture, the System 5000 is
the only enterprise hub on the market today that incorporates all shared
LAN technologies, frame and cell-based switching, routing and
communications services simultaneously with no performance degradation.
Introduced in April and combining LAN switching with shared media, the
58000 Fast Ethernet switch supports a variety of interfaces - including 10
Mbps and 100 Mbps - on a single module. With the new FDDI-to-Ethernet
capability for the 58000, users can easily and cost effectively connect
all the Ethernet segments from the System 5000 to an FDDI backbone, fully
managed with Optivity.

Pricing and Availability

The EtherSpeed 10/100 Switching Module is priced at $6,995 and will be
available in July. The ATMSpeed/155 MCP Module is $12,995 and will be
available in June. The ATMSpeed/155 Switching Module is $8,995 and will be
available third quarter calendar. LANE, UNI SVCs and IISP software support
will be available also this summer as free upgrades for existing
Centillion 100 customers.

The 28200 modular Ethernet switch is shipping now. Pricing for the chassis
is $2,995, with module pricing as follows: the 8-port 10BASE-T is $2,495;
the 4-port 10BASE-FL is $2,995; the 2-port 100BASE-TX is $1,995 and the
2-port 100BASE-FX is $2,750. The FDDI module will be available in the
third quarter calendar for $5,995.

The FDDI Switching Module for the 58000 will be available in July for
$9,995.

About Bay Networks

Bay Networks, Inc. is a worldwide leader in the internetworking market,
providing a full line of products that serve enterprises, workgroups,
small offices, and mobile workers. The company offers market-leading LAN
and ATM switches, hubs, routers, remote and Internet access solutions, and
network management applications all unified by the BaySIS(tm)
architecture. With revenue of $1.9 billion over the last four fiscal
quarters, Bay Networks markets and supports its products from 136 offices
around the world, providing 7x24 support coverage. Bay Networks' World
Wide Web address is: http://www.baynetworks.com.

Note to Editors: All Bay Networks press releases are available on Bay
Networks' web site at http://www.baynetworks.com or via CompuServe using
GO BAYNET. Bay Networks' web site also provides information on the
company's products and services, news and events, partner programs, and
corporate contacts.
 
 =========================================================
 From the 'New Product News' Electronic News Service on...
 AOL (Keyword = New Products) and Delphi (GO COMP PROD)
 =========================================================
 This information was processed from data provided by the
 company/author mentioned. For additional details, please
 contact them directly at the address/phone# indicated.
 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  USA
 Email:   rbakerpc@aol.com   --or--   rbakerpc@delphi.com
 =========================================================
