PM-4 Fact Sheet

| # PORTMASTER 4 FACT SHEET ## The PortMasterTM 4 Integrated Access Concentrator ### Overview The PortMaster 4 is the industry's highest capacity, multiservice InterNetworking Systems concentrator for high-volume network service providers -- including public carriers, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and enterprise corporations -- that operate large scale points of presence. The product sets a new standard for service flexibility, performance under high loads, and future-proofing, all of which translate into bottom-line benefits in the highly competitive network services market. To achieve these advantages, the PortMaster 4 features a next-generation architecture that meets today's most demanding requirements while providing a seamless path to emerging technologies such as Voice over IP and xDSL in future releases. Key architectural features include an embedded ATM switch fabric, distributed multiprocessors to each slot, and a passive backplane. The PortMaster 4 is the high-density member of the proven PortMaster family of InterNetworking Systems products, which currently serve more than 2,000 small and regional ISPs worldwide. While the PortMaster 4 brings significant technological advantages to the carrier class concentrator market, the PortMaster 3 will continue to be ideal for small to midsize Points of Presence. ### PortMaster 4 Highlights High density. The PortMaster 4 10-slot chassis has a small footprint at 19w" x 18d" x 15.75h". It allows: -Up to 864 dial-in modem or ISDN sessions (810 for E1-based systems) -Up to 864 64Kbps leased line connections (810 for E1-based systems) -Up to 27 E1 leased lines. Three per card, nine cards. -One T3 or E3 multiplexer Network operators can stack as many as five of these chassis into a standard 7-foot rack to achieve 4,320 dial-up connections. The PortMaster 4 also supports a full T3 of access in a single chassis. Any service, any port, any time, automatically. The PortMaster 4 supports any service on any port at any time, automatically. When a data call arrives at any of its switch ports, the PortMaster 4 intelligently determines what service it needs - for example, ISDN, ISDN data-over-voice, or 56K modem -- and automatically switches service on that port to accommodate that type of call. This means that the network is always optimally configured for changing traffic patterns, such as from heavy ISDN use during the business day to heavy modem use in the evening. Top performance, even under full load. Unlike other products, the PortMaster 4 distributes multiprocessors for each slot so that each card makes independent routing and forwarding decisions. This means that as cards are added, processing power and service capacity are added. It also delivers a full 155 Mbps to each slot for top performance, compared with other products which share 155 Mbps across the backplane. Embedded ATM switch fabric. Unlike the typical bus-based designs, the PortMaster 4's ATM switch fabric provides fixed low latency, important to performance now and to accommodate in the future services such as Voice over IP and xDSL. Such emerging, high bandwidth technologies cannot be properly supported by other products because of the delays inherent in their design. Passive backplane. The PortMaster 4's backplane has no active components, meaning that emerging technologies can be accommodated with a simple upgrade in future releases. Highly reliable, fault tolerant design. The PortMaster 4 delivers high reliability through both software and hardware. It runs on Lucent's industry-proven ComOS®, which was specifically designed for InterNetworking Systems applications. Tested and refined for nearly a decade, ComOS provides the most stable routing protocol implementation and exceptional scalabilty features. The PortMaster 4's fault-tolerant hardware design virtually eliminates down time. Design features include "hot standby" modem DSPs; redundant, hot-swappable, load sharing power supplies; hot swappable fans; hot insertion of the system management and other modules. All the PortMaster 4's modules, including the System Manager Module, are hot-swappable. Security Features. The PortMaster 4's ComOS operating system provides many security features for both dial-in and dedicated access, including PAP, CHAP and Callback, as well as ChoiceNet, a packet filter management application. Lucent's RADIUS ABM (Authentication and Billing Manager) software package allows centralized management and provides support for many third-party token-based products. For Virtual Private Networking (VPN) applications, the PortMaster 4 supports L2TP tunneling standards. Future-proofing design. The PortMaster 4 has one port of 622 Mbps full duplex capacity bandwidth on its switching fabric in reserve, in order to support such emerging technologies as xDSL, SONET and ATM. Its active component-free, virtual backplane also facilitates accommodation of new technologies. ### Pricing and Availability The PortMaster 4 is available for ordering now and will ship in Q2 1998. List price for a system configured with chassis, power supply, System Manager Module and modem modules is $519 per port. All configuration, management and routing software (ComOS) is included. (Note: This is not the case for competing products, which charge for additional software.) Initially available modules for the PortMaster 4 include a channelized T3 and E3 module that multiplexes T1/E1 streams within T3/E3, a quad T1 98-modem module and a tri E1 98-modem module featuring "True Digital" Lucent DSP modem architecture, and ISDN/frame relay/leased line module. ### Contact Information Press: Linda Pugliano, phone (908) 953-7526, email pugliano@lucent.com or Gary Proefke, phone (510) 737-2241, email garyp@livingston.com Sales: Lucent Technologies, phone (800) 458-9966, email sales@livingston.com Web: http://www.lucent.com ##### ComOS and PortMaster are registered trademarks and OneVision, PortMaster and IRX are trademarks of Lucent Technologies, Inc. Java is a trademark of Sun® Microsystems, Inc.