Force10 Networks Acquires MetaNetworks

Milpitas, CA, USA, November 16, 2005 -- Force10's acquisition of MetaNetworks brings with it a customer base of advanced research networks operated by U.S.government organizations and combines the industry's leading high performance Ethernet switch/router with the industry's only commercially available line-rate 10 Gigabit intrusion prevention system to secure high performance networks against malicious traffic and attacks.

"Force10 was the first to deliver line-rate 10 Gigabit switching and routing, and now with the industry's only line-rate 10 Gigabit intrusion detection and prevention technology, we are extending our leadership to the rapidly growing security market," said Marc Randall, president and CEO of Force10 Networks. "With the integration of MetaNetworks, we can build and secure the fastest networks in the world, increasing our value proposition to our customers."

High performance intrusion detection and prevention technology is a flexible inline network security mechanism designed to detect malicious packets and proactively stop intrusions by blocking the offending traffic. Traditional intrusion detection and prevention systems lack the processing power to inspect traffic at line-rate 10 Gigabit speeds, forcing network managers to sacrifice performance for security. The integration of MetaNetworks' innovative technology brings Force10 the ability to detect and prevent network intrusions without impacting performance, even in line-rate 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks.

"As the Department of Energy's largest multi-program lab, Oakridge National Labs has a history of leadership in advanced scientific discovery," said Bill Wing, network researcher at Oakridge National Laboratory's National Leadership Computing Facility. "The line-rate 10 Gigabit capabilities of Force10 and MetaNetworks enable our network to meet the demanding performance and stringent security standards necessary to accomplish our research."

Despite existing network data security measures and government regulations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, attacks and malware caused more than $500 billion in damages last year while the personal information of more than 57 million people has been compromised in 2005. Driven primarily by the rapid growth in malicious network attacks and continuing government data protection regulations, industry analyst group IDC estimates that the IDS/IDP market grew 53 percent last year and will reach $1.4 billion by 2008.

"MetaNetworks' vision fits extremely well with Force10," said Livio Rucciulli, MetaNetworks founder and now Force10 chief security scientist. "Our vision for security is built on innovative Gigabit and 10 Gigabit performance, resiliency and unmatched detection accuracy, which provides Force10 with a unique technological combination ideal for government and research environments, data centers and service providers."

For additional information on MetaNetworks, please visit http://www.metanetworks.org.

About Force10 Networks:
Force10 Networks is the pioneer in high performance switching and routing. 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 the company's website at www.force10networks.com.

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

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

Jennifer Arculeo,
408-965-5194,
jarculeo @ force10networks.com

News Source: Business Wire India