InformationWeek

Ethernet Heat

By Monua Janah

ompetition in 10/100 Fast Ethernet workgroup switching will intensify this week when 3Com Corp. unveils a 12-port stackable switch that supports migration to Gigabit Ethernet and lowers prices on existing switches.

The new switch supports Ethernet running at speeds up to 1 Gbps. The SuperStack II Switch 3000 has 12 autosensing ports that can provide either 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps of bandwidth, as needed.

The switch is designed to be used either to provide connections to the desktop, or to aggregate workgroup connections to bigger, faster switches at the core of the network. It includes features such as broadcast traffic control; support for virtual LANs, which are ways to group users logically rather than physically; and remote management.

The Santa Clara, Calif., company also hopes to ease migration to faster networking technologies. The switch can support a higher-speed uplink: either a Gigabit Ethernet connection, which 3Com says will ship in September, or an ATM module, available in August. "Customers of the switches will not require a forklift upgrade two years from now," says Edgar Masri, VP and general manager of 3Com Systems.

The switch will be available this month, for $3,495, or $291 a port. The ATM module will be priced at $3,995, and the Gigabit Ethernet module at $2,995.

3Com also cut prices on its existing SuperStack switches. The price of a SuperStack II Switch 1000 dropped to $3,495, or $140 per port, from $4,250, or $170 per port. The eight-port version of the SuperStack II Switch 3000 was cut t o $2,995, or $374 per port, from $3,995, or $495 per port.

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