SYSTIMAX® Solutions Showcases Live 10GBASE-T Demonstration over 100 Meters of Its GigaSPEED® X10D UTP Cabling Solution at Interop® Las Vegas


SYSTIMAX Solutions(TM) and Solarflare® Communications collaborate to show how new high-bandwidth solutions are becoming a reality

RICHARDSON, Texas, May 21 -- CommScope, Inc. (NYSE:CTV), a global leader in infrastructure solutions for communications networks, through its SYSTIMAX Solutions brand has set another industry first by achieving a 9.0 GB/s payload throughput over its 10 GB/s unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cabling solution in concert with Solarflare Communications' Solarstorm(TM) 10GBASE-T server adapters. The two companies will demonstrate this achievement via a data streaming application at Interop® Las Vegas in Solarflare Communications' booth #1774.

"We believe this demonstration marks the arrival of next-generation Ethernet technology," said Luc Adriaenssens, senior vice president R&D and technology, Enterprise, CommScope. "The ability to operate 10 GB/s Ethernet over UTP copper cabling provides a much-needed forward migration path for enterprise network infrastructures."

In addition to the ratification of the 10GBASE-T standard in the summer of 2006, this collaboration between SYSTIMAX Solutions and Solarflare Communications demonstrates that 10 GB/s Ethernet over UTP cabling is becoming a reality.

SYSTIMAX Solutions believes that it was the first vendor to provide a full 100-meter UTP solution that guarantees compliance with the draft IEEE 802.3an taskforce guidelines for 10GBASE-T and the new Category 6A/ Class EA cabling standards. In December 2004, SYSTIMAX Solutions launched the SYSTIMAX® GigaSPEED® X10D Solution to provide a next-generation cabling solution that supports the bandwidth needs of today's enterprises as well as the needs of more demanding applications such as high-resolution video, grid computing and Storage Area Network/Network Attached Storage (SAN/NAS).

"The public demonstration of SYSTIMAX Solutions achieving a 9.0 GB/s payload throughput over its 10 GB/s unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cabling solution in concert with our Solarstorm(TM) 10GBASE-T server adapters paves the way for OEMs to provide simple and cost-effective 10 Gigabit Ethernet servers and switches," said Bruce Tolley, vice president of marketing at Solarflare. "The availability of cabling that meets the full 100-meter specification of the IEEE 802.3an standard for 10GBASE-T is a key step in the adoption of this technology. We are proud to have SYSTIMAX Solutions as a partner working with us to build the 10GBASE-T ecosystem."

This demonstration, designed to replicate a demanding real-world alien crosstalk environment, shows the viability and robustness of 10 GB/s Ethernet over 100-meter UTP Category 6A cabling. Seven independent 10GBASE-T channels are created, representing a typical wiring closet or data center configuration, and six disturbing channels are tightly bound around a victim channel. Representing true network traffic, a computer client continuously transmits 10GBASE-T Ethernet data frames to a server by running Netperf, a file-streaming and network-benchmarking software, via one of the channels. Continually energized with 10GBASE-T traffic generated by devices based on Solarflare's 10Xpress PHY, six of the surrounding disturbing channels generate alien crosstalk comparable to real-world adjacent channels. An application script graphically shows payload throughput on the benchmark client-server channel around 9 GB/s. A measurement of slightly less than 10 GB/s is expected due to protocol overhead. The signals clearly demonstrate the reliability of the GigaSPEED X10D Solution and the robustness of Solarflare 10GBASE-T server adapters to deliver a cost-effective tenfold increase in speed over a high- performance UTP infrastructure.

"SYSTIMAX Solutions has a long tradition of producing innovative infrastructure solutions that have consistently given enterprise managers the peace of mind that comes with installing a leading-edge solution," Adriaenssens said. "The GigaSPEED X10D Solution is a natural extension and evolution to our previous solutions, which we believe have led the industry in performance and reliability."

The GigaSPEED X10D Solution is protected by the industry-leading SYSTIMAX SCS 20-year Extended Product Warranty and Application Assurance. SYSTIMAX Solutions will be exhibiting at Interop Las Vegas 2007 at booth No. 749 in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center from May 20 to May 25. More information about Interop can be found at www.interop.com/.

About SYSTIMAX Solutions

SYSTIMAX Solutions from CommScope (NYSE:CTV), is a worldwide leader in structured cabling systems and provides integrated end-to-end connectivity solutions for voice, data, video and building management applications in both wired and wireless enterprise networks.

SYSTIMAX Solutions supplies its high performance and market-leading range of products through a network of highly skilled BusinessPartners. The product range includes the copper-based GigaSPEED X10D and GigaSPEED XL Solutions, the fiber optic LazrSPEED and TeraSPEED Solutions and the intelligent patching iPatch® System. The SYSTIMAX AirSPEED(TM) Solution adds a wireless option to the portfolio. Drawing on their Bell Labs heritage, the people of SYSTIMAX Labs who have spearheaded these innovations will continue to play an integral role in the future success of SYSTIMAX Solutions. Currently the company's BusinessPartners install an average of over 1,000 miles (1,600km) of SYSTIMAX cable every day in approximately 130 countries worldwide.

About Solarflare Communications, Inc.

Solarflare Communications Inc. is a leading silicon vendor delivering Ethernet products that enable the rapid adoption of 10 Gigabit for data center and enterprise networks. Solarflare was the first company to demonstrate and sample to customers a 10GBASE-T PHY reaching 100 meters over a Category 6A link. The company's high-performance Ethernet solutions will lower the cost of 10 Gigabit networking for data center and enterprise customers. The privately held company is headquartered in Irvine, California with a development center in Cambridge, UK. For more information, visit http://www.solarflare.com/.

Source: CommScope, Inc.

CONTACT: Sadie McCrary, MCC for SYSTIMAX Solutions, +1-972-480-8383 x222, or Sadie_McCrary@mccom.com; or Fiona Nolan of SYSTIMAX Solutions, +353 1 204 2000, or fnolan@systimax.com; or Sacha Arts for Solarflare Communications, +1-408-356-3099, or sacha@sliderassociates.com

Web site: www.commscope.com/
http://www.interop.com/
http://www.solarflare.com/

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