H3C S12500 changes the economics of data center networking with greater port density,
higher performance and lower power usage than alternatives

Intelligent Management Center provides unique “single-pane” management of resources, services and network elements and addresses stringent demands of data center operations

May 11, 2009—As part of today’s global introduction of its comprehensive H3C large-enterprise networking portfolio, 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq: COMS) today announced a new, extensible data-center switching platform and a next-generation management platform.  The new H3C® S12500 data center aggregation and high-end enterprise core switch is built on a modern system architecture that delivers 2.2 billion packets per second (Bpps) of forwarding through a 6.6 Terabits per second (Tbps) non-blocking fabric, with up to 128 non-blocking 10-Gigabit or 864 non-blocking Gigabit Ethernet ports and 50 percent less power consumption than competing products; a combination that delivers market-leading lower total cost of ownership (TCO) in both capex and opex.

The new switching platform is managed with the new H3C end-to-end enterprise-class management solution, Intelligent Management Center (IMC), which provides unique single-pane management of the entire heterogeneous enterprise network infrastructure and integrates with existing systems to deliver heightened efficiency and value.

With its unique “TCO by Design” development methodology applied to the H3C S12500 large-scale switching platform and SOA-based H3C IMC management platform, 3Com demonstrates it is now possible to change the fundamental economics of the data center and broader enterprise network without compromising performance or feature support.  Previously, enterprises had to compromise in one or more areas of cost, performance or efficiency when choosing a data-center switching platform.  3Com’s “no-compromise” data-center switching solutions are designed from the ground up to deliver a lower TCO, have a flexible architecture to take advantage of future technology enhancements, and support the ever-increasing performance requirements of large, global enterprises.

The data center has moved into the spotlight as a critical corporate asset connecting servers, applications, storage and services—and therefore must operate in a non-stop, 7x24x365 environment.  At the same time, organizations are increasingly challenged by the high cost and design limitations of legacy data-center switches that are not able to support the density, performance, scalability, availability and power efficiency needs of the modern enterprise.  They are also challenged to simplify network operations and reduce overall IT costs by centralizing and consolidating their computing assets and locations.

The H3C S12500 platform supports a wide range of extensible embedded services ranging from high-performance security and application optimization services to virtualized network services.  This enables IT to adjust to evolving business requirements and to rapidly provision and enable new services that are closely aligned with operational priorities.  The platforms also offer a clear transition path for customers to consolidate physically disparate data centers through a single connective switch fabric with built-in redundancy and resilience through the H3C Intelligent Resilient Framework (IRF).  IRF delivers local and geographically distributed high-availability, resiliency and traffic load balancing.  It enables enterprises to build a “pay-as-you-grow” network core, seamlessly adding 10-Gigabit and Gigabit Ethernet ports to expand density as needs evolve.

3Com’s new H3C data-center solutions give enterprises the ability to consolidate their operations and drive down their IT and networking costs while ensuring they have next-generation technology support and investment protection for critical initiatives such as virtualization and cloud computing.  Compared to competing products, the H3C data center solutions also offer an order of magnitude improvement in high-speed performance, switch and server aggregation port densities, and a fault tolerant/high-availability design that delivers a far more efficient and lower total cost of ownership deployment model.

Facts/Highlights:
H3C Switch 12500, designed for high-density Gigabit Ethernet and 10-Gigabit applications, redefines large-scale data center core switching:
•   Provides unprecedented levels of networking density, performance and high availability.
•   Offers simplified, flexible and power-efficient deployment options to support data center consolidation and ultimately to drive down operational IT costs.
•   Ideal for large-scale enterprise and service provider data-center and core campus deployments that require the highest switching performance scale to support new requirements for:  data-center consolidation, high performance, cloud computing, server cluster aggregation, business continuity and disaster recovery.

•   Key H3C S12500 benefits:
o   Available in two options based on performance and capacity requirements, ranging from an eight-slot chassis that delivers 3 terabits per second (Tbps) of high-performance switching capacity and a forwarding rate of 960 million packets per second (Mpps) to an 18-slot chassis that delivers 6.6 Tbps of switching capacity and a forwarding rate of 2.2 billion pps (Bpps).
o   New, disruptive data-center economics delivered through a combination of an unmatched level of price/performance including high port density of 128 line-rate (512 oversubscribed) 10-Gigabit ports and 864 line-rate Gigabit Ethernet ports.
o   Uses only 80 watts of power per 10-Gigabit port, more than 50 percent less than competing products, to address green IT mandates.
o   Provides clear investment protection with a highly available, future-proof design:
   Seamlessly transitions to 40/100 Gigabit Ethernet and fiber channel over Ethernet (FCoE) to meet demands.
o   A single virtual connective fabric using 3Com patented IRF technology enables IT to manage geographically dispersed switches as if they were in a single location.
o   Delivers operational consistency because it’s built on a common platform operating system, called Comware, and is managed via a single-pane management platform.  These benefits are available across the entire H3C portfolio.

Intelligent Management Center (IMC), a unique single-pane management platform based on a Service Oriented Architecture, offers an extensive set of capabilities for managing large heterogeneous networks:
•   Allows for the effective integration of traditionally separate management tools, providing complete management of resources, services and users.
•   Designed to be the foundation for next-generation centers of operational excellence that will replace the traditional network operations center model.
•   Built from the ground up to support the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) operational center of excellence IT practices model.
•   Full FCAPS (Fault, Configuration, Administration, Performance, Security) support for comprehensive management of an organization’s network infrastructure.

The S12500, like all of the products in the H3C enterprise networking portfolio, was designed with a future-ready architecture using the industry’s latest technology.  By using merchant silicon instead of proprietary ASICs, the H3C solutions contain the most modern and low-power chipsets available.  Extensive use of open standards means 3Com customers have a platform that is easily extended as future innovations become available.  Careful attention to a low power consumption model means customers not only can take advantage of the capital cost savings inherent in the H3C portfolio, but also in power cost savings.  This lower total cost of ownership by design delivers an average of a 33 percent reduction TCO in critical areas of costs, including capex, deployment, management and support.  This is in sharp contrast to other approaches to lowering the cost of ownership that use bolt-on techniques to deliver a much narrower and more complex TCO model.

Pricing and Availability
•   The H3C S12500 switching platform will be available in July 2009. List pricing for typical configurations starts at $60,000.
•   IMC will be available in June 2009.

Supporting Quotes:
•   “The customer’s current data center dilemma is one of too many devices and too many access interconnections, all leading to high demands for space and power—not to mention the added complexity of managing more devices,” said Saar Gillai, 3Com senior vice president, worldwide products and solutions.  “3Com is offering an alternative to current data center switches that drastically simplifies data center operations and delivers unbeatable scale and price/performance.”
•   “3Com further differentiates its H3C enterprise networking portfolio with its ability to be managed by a single-pane, end-to-end platform that was designed to meet the stringent demands of today’s business critical network operations,” added Gillai.  “Those who have wrestled with multiple closed management systems will welcome the power and efficiency of a fully-integrated, comprehensive management platform that provides a view of the entire enterprise network.”
•   “Enterprises are looking for data-center switching platforms that offer open, flexible deployment options to meet today's needs while offering a clear migration path to next-generation capabilities,” said Cindy Borovick, research vice president for IDC’s Datacenter Networks service.  “But the need for performance and features must be weighed against the total cost of ownership (TCO).  The TCO analysis has become a mandate for all new and future purchasing decisions.  With its new H3C S12500 switch, 3Com is introducing an extensible high-density platform that can accommodate today’s economic constraints as well as future high-performance data-center demands.”
•   “As enterprise networks have become more powerful and capable of driving more business services and applications, there has been a significant void in the industry for a solution that can effectively manage these increasingly complex networks,” said Zeus Kerravala, senior vice president, Yankee Group.  “With IMC, 3Com is bringing a solution to market that address what has long been a shortcoming of networking vendors.  The ability to easily and cost-effectively manage heterogeneous networks is essential to driving down the total cost of ownership and enhancing business efficiency.”