SAN JOSE, Calif., March 23, 2009 – Force10 Networks®, a pioneer in building and securing reliable networks, today introduced the ExaScaleTM E-Series family of switch/routers to meet the stringent performance, management and cost requirements of today’s virtualized data center and cloud computing environments. As enterprises transition to virtualized data centers and adopt cloud-based services, the network is increasingly required to be more dynamic and responsive to changing resource demands. The Force10 ExaScale E-Series is designed to deliver the performance, availability, resiliency and flexibility essential to power these new dynamic environments while significantly lowering total operating and management costs. 

“As one of the world’s largest centers for scientific research, CERN’s advanced network delivers 100 Gigabits per second of aggregate bandwidth to collaborators around the globe and is the key link in our total chain of information capture and analysis,” said David Foster, Deputy Head of the IT department at CERN.  “The Force10 ExaScale E-Series has demonstrated the ultra throughput and buffer management that will ensure the application reliability and performance we require to support our more than 9,000 scientists around the world.”

With support for the industry’s leading line-rate 10 Gigabit Ethernet densities, the Force10 ExaScale E-Series reduces capital costs and simplifies management to reduce ongoing operational expenses.

The ExaScale E-Series also extends Force10’s history of enabling cost-effective network ownership with an energy-saving, eco-efficient power and cooling design that provides the industry’s lowest power consumption per line-rate port. Patent-protected advances in backplane and chip design as well as custom designed power components reduce overall system power consumption and lower per port consumption by as much as 70 percent versus comparable competitive platforms.

Enabling Force10’s Virtualization Framework to Fuel Competitive Advantage
The ExaScale E-Series is the foundation for Force10’s Virtualization Framework and provides the multi-terabit platform required to power advanced data centers and cloud computing environments. As budgets have come under pressure, enterprises are turning to virtualization technologies that increase business critical application availability while lowering the total cost of IT infrastructure ownership.

“New technologies, like cloud computing and virtualization are driving rapid changes in the traditional networking architectures because of the higher throughput and lower latencies today’s virtual applications require,” said Zeus Kerravala, senior vice president of global enterprise research at Yankee Group.  “The ExaScale E-Series is the first of a new generation of switch/routers that directly address that challenge by raising the bar for total system capacity while lowering total costs through flatter topologies and reduced power draw.”

Utilizing the management flexibility of the ExaScale E-Series, Force10’s virtual technology suite, including VirtualScale™, VirtualControl™ and VirtualView™, enterprises and service providers can build, manage and monitor network and application performance as well as automate business processes. These technologies enable organizations to build more agile virtualized environments that can dynamically respond to changing business requirements, increasing process efficiencies and fueling a sustainable competitive advantage.   

The Force10 Virtualization Framework utilizes open, standards-based data center automation and orchestration technology to promote greater efficiency and agility within the data center. By integrating standards-based technology for real-time network traffic analysis and management, enterprises can maximize existing networking resources while building in the flexibility they require to rapidly respond to changing application requirements.

Force10 also partners with leading vendors to provide complete solutions that optimize data center infrastructure. For additional information on the Force10 data center partner ecosystem, please visit the company’s Technology Alliance Partner Program web page, including its computing alliance with IBM.