AT THE FOREFRONT OF ATM NETWORKING FORE DELIVERS SCALABLE 10 GBPS ATM LAN
BACKBONE SWITCH FORE SHIPS ASX-1000 ATM SWITCH AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

Pittsburgh, PA - October 9, 1995 - FORE Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FORE), the
worldwide leader in local area networking products based on Asynchronous
Transfer Mode (ATM) technology, today announced delivery of the
ForeRunner&nbsp; ASX-1000, a uniquely scalable 10 Gbps non-blocking ATM
switch specifically designed for the LAN backbone. Last April, FORE
announced that the ASX-1000 would be available by the end of December.
Today, almost three months ahead of schedule, FORE has begun shipping the
ASX-1000 to customers. The ASX-1000 complements FORE's existing ATM switch
line, which includes the ASX-200WG workgroup switch for desktop ATM
applications and the ASX-200BX ATM LAN backbone switch.

ASX-1000 SWITCHING HARDWARE

The ASX-1000 features an advanced non-blocking Time-Space-Time
architecture, supporting up to four 2.5 Gbps switching fabrics connected
via a central 10 Gbps backplane. This unique design provides not only 10
Gbps non-blocking capacity, but the highest throughput available in a
scalable ATM LAN backbone switch today. The ASX-1000 scales from 2.5 Gbps
to 10 Gbps.

Each 2.5 Gbps switching fabric contains an integrated i960 processor,
designed to reduce cost and provide a reliable distributed switching
architecture. These fabrics and processors can be "hot swapped." This
capability maximizes network availability and minimizes disruption during
network maintenance and expansion.

SUPERIOR RELIABILITY AND FAULT TOLERANCE

The ASX-1000 hardware and software provide the reliability and fault
tolerance features required in the LAN backbone. The ASX-1000 comes
equipped with redundant, load-sharing power supplies and redundant fans.
Power is offered in AC or in -48V DC options for compatibility with all
uninterruptable power supply (UPS) systems. In addition to the switch
fabrics and processors, all other key components of the ASX-1000,
including Network Modules, power supplies, and fan trays can be hot
swapped. The ASX-1000 also provides environmental monitoring of
temperature, fan status, and power voltages.

The ASX-1000's superior network fault tolerance includes the above
reliability features combined with the ability to support multiple
inter-switch links and load-balance traffic across these connections. In
the event of a link failure, integral ForeThought&nbsp; ATM Software
automatically reroutes all traffic.

UNPARALLELED FLEXIBILITY

The ASX-1000 is highly scalable and can be configured with 2.5 Gbps, 5
Gbps, 7.5 Gbps or 10 Gbps non-blocking switch capacity. For example,
customers can initially purchase 2.5 Gbps and then add switch capacity as
needed.

The ForeRunner&nbsp; switch family supports up to 96 ports and the most
complete range of ATM LAN and WAN interfaces in the industry, including
T1, E1, J2, DS3, E3, 100 Mbps TAXI, 155 Mbps (OC-3c/STM- 1) and 622 Mbps
(OC-12c/STM-4c.) The 155 Mbps interface supports multimode fiber, single
mode fiber or UTP Category 5 copper media. The ASX-1000 will support
interfaces up to 2.4 Gbps.

All of the ForeRunner&nbsp; switch products are ATM Forum standards-
compliant and support FORE's industry-leading ForeThought&nbsp; Software.
ForeThought&nbsp;, is standards-based and provides high-performance
internetwork functionality such as automatic network discovery, dynamic
configuration and signaling at the UNI and NNI, switched virtual circuits,
Smart PVCs, and virtual LANs. ForeThought&nbsp; also transparently
supports a complete range of applications using LAN Emulation and
IP-over-ATM.

INVESTMENT PROTECTION

FORE continues to provide strong investment protection across its entire
product line. FORE offers this investment protection with customer
oriented programs and design features, such as a free upgrade path to the
ASX-1000 for ASX-200BXE ATM LAN backbone switch owners, interface modules
that can be used interchangeably across the entire ForeRunner&nbsp; ATM
switch product line, and architectures that scale with customer bandwidth
and performance requirements.

AVAILABILITY AND PRICE

The ASX-1000 is available today. Pricing is available upon request from
FORE's distributors.
 
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