Force10 Closes Q3 with Record Sales!

Reflecting the tremendous customer interest in the TeraScale E-Series, Force10 Networks today announced record sales for the third quarter of 2005, which ended July 31. Fueling the sales growth was the broad diversification and expansion of Force10's worldwide customer base as well as a surge in demand for Force10's high-density, 90-port Gigabit Ethernet card, which increases the density of the TeraScale E-Series to an industry-leading 1,260 ports. "We saw record sales during the quarter as our customer base expanded and the average deployment size increased," said Marc Randall, president and CEO of Force10 Networks. "The performance and resiliency advantages of the TeraScale E-Series are translating into a lower total cost of ownership for our customers, and, as a result, they purchase again and again." The Force10 TeraScale E-Series combines the high density and reliability that enterprises, service providers and research organizations alike require to simplify their networks and reduce total cost of network ownership. With robust Layer 2 and Layer 3 functionality, the TeraScale E-Series can collapse multiple network layers into a single layer while industry-leading density allows network operators to process more traffic in a single system. Together, these two features enable IT managers to deploy fewer systems, reducing initial capital expenditures and long-term operating costs. Over the last year, enterprises have rapidly been adopting the advanced technology and architectures that will continue to transform their networks into strategic assets. According to the most recent Top500.org list, 181 of the world's fastest supercomputers are in commercial industries, up 46 percent from 2004. Among these are Veritas DGC and Petroleum Geo-Services, oil and gas exploration companies that leverage the Force10 TeraScale E-Series to more rapidly process and analyze complex seismic data for their customers. For these companies, their network is a competitive advantage. Service providers are also leveraging the Force10 TeraScale E-Series to bring resiliency and predictable performance to their networks while simplifying architectures. Netherlands-based True has deployed the TeraScale E-Series and its high density, 90-port Gigabit Ethernet cards in a 10 Gigabit Ethernet upgrade to bring greater scalability and resiliency to its network. The TeraScale E-Series also provides the first 20 Gigabit Ethernet connection to the Amsterdam Internet Exchange. Hostech Global, Korea's leading server hosting provider, has also deployed the TeraScale E-Series to collapse multiple network layers into a single one. Facing rapidly increasing traffic on their networks, Internet exchanges turned to Force10 in the third quarter to provide the scalable capacity that will support growth well into the future. New York-based Stealth Communications is leveraging the high density of the TeraScale E-Series in its new exchange to deliver Gigabit Ethernet peering services at $1,000 per port per year, well below the industry average. Additionally, Equinix has deployed the TeraScale E-Series in a nationwide upgrade to 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Continuing to expand its ties to the research and education communities, Force10 partnered with the Peter Kiewit Institute (PKI) at the University of Nebraska. Renowned for its state-of-the-art engineering and IT program, which brings students, faculty and business leaders together, PKI has deployed the Force10 TeraScale E-Series and S50 to increase the predictability of its network and advance its studies of today's emerging technologies. In addition to its new partnership, Force10 further demonstrated its strength in the research community with the latest Top500.org list. According to the list, the TeraScale E-Series powers 23 of the world's largest supercomputers, including the MareNostrum cluster at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, which ranked fifth on the list.