Hitachi, Ltd. today announced that on October 15 it will release in Japan the GR2000, a gigabit router that enables high-speed Internet/intranet connections
with a maximum effective performance of ten million
packets a second or more.
The widespread use of PCs, the Internet and intranets in recent years is leading to an increase in the scale and capacity of corporate and public networks. The current expansion of services, content and applications that make extensive use of voice, image and other
such data is fueling a demand for network routers that offer higher capacity, higher speeds, and a higher level of performance for applications involving realtime communications and mission critical tasks. With the volume of data traffic
projected to surpass that of telephone traffic by 2000, it has been estimated that by 2000 the world market for multigigabit routers will be worth 1.7648 billion dollars, and 3.58459 billion dollars by 2001, according to Dataquest.
Hitachi already sells a range of products for building high-performance, high-reliability corporate networks, such as the NP series of routers, the AN series of
ATM switches and the HS series of LAN switches. Hitachi has always endeavored to provide products that use cutting-edge technology. In June 1997, for example,
the company released the NR60, the first router compatible with IPv6, the next-generation Internet communication protocol, and in August 1998, started to distribute
an IPv6 conversion program, "Toolnet6," at no cost to users. In addition to hardware and software, Hitachi also offers "Compassport," a network outsourcing service for corporate customers that covers everything from the building of a network to its operation and maintenance.
The GR2000 is comprised of a large model, the GR2000-20,
a medium-sized model, the GR2000-10, and a small model, the GR2000-4. All models incorporate leading-edge
high-speed circuit technology, VLSIs and other advanced technologies honed through the company's extensive experience in the areas of mainframes and backbone servers, giving the GR2000 range its world-leading effective performance of up to ten million packets a second. This level of performance enables high-speed communications over large-capacity, large-scale networks. The routers are also enhanced by the implementation of various QoS (Quality of Service) control functions, including data priority control and band control, making the routers applicable to realtime communications
and mission critical tasks. The routers are equipped with interfaces to LANs and WANs as well as
to high-speed networks such as gigabit Ethernets
and OC-12 (622 megabits/sec), so that they can be used for corporate intranets and extranets, for connecting Internet providers to the Internet backbone, and in other
such fields. Support for the IPv6 protocol is planned,
which will facilitate future Internet migration to IPv6.
The sales target for the GR2000 is 10,000 units over
the next three years, including the United States, Europe and other international markets.
The release of the GR2000 will be accompanied by the addition of new models to SummitTM series of Hitachi gigabit switches and to the Hitachi High Speed LAN Switch HS Series.
GR2000 products will be on display at COM JAPAN 1998, which opens November 10 at Tokyo Big Sight.
Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 1997 (ended March 31, 1998) consolidated sales of 8,417 billion yen (63.8 billion dollars*).
The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors,
consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site at http://www.hitachi.co.jp.
* At an exchange rate of 132 yen to the dollar.
Notes to Editors
Multigigabit router: Gigabit routers that support various high-speed WAN circuits
OC-12(Optical Carrier Level 12): International standard for optical fiber circuits
Pricing and availability
Hitachi Gigabit Routers: GR2000
| GR2000-20 |
From 7.6 million yen*1 |
March 1999 |
| GR2000-10 |
From 6.6 million yen*1 |
February 1999 |
| GR2000-4 |
From 4.2 million yen*1 |
February 1999 |
| *1: |
When equipped with 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX x 4 ports + 8 high-speed digital lines |
Hitachi Gigabit Switches: SummitTM Series
| Summit3TM |
From 2.4 million yen*2 |
November 1998
|
| Summit4TM |
6 million yen |
November 1998 |
| Summit48TM |
From 2.9 million yen*3 |
December 1998 |
| Summit Virtual ChassisTM |
2.2 million yen |
December 1998 |
| Black DiamondTM 6800 |
From 8.02 million yen*4 |
March 1999 |
| *2: |
When equipped with 1000BASE-SX x 1 port + 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX x 24 ports |
| *3: |
When equipped with 1000BASE-SX x 2 ports + 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX x 48 ports |
| *4: |
When equipped with management module + 1000BASE-SX x 4 ports |
Hitachi High Speed LAN Switch: HS Series
| HS160 |
From 1.5 million yen*5 |
February 1999 |
| HS60 |
490 thousand yen |
December 1998 |
| *5: |
When equipped with 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX x 12 ports |
Trademarks of ohter companies
- Summit, Summit1, Summit2, Summit3, Summit4, Summit48, Summit Virtual Chassis and Black Diamond are trademarks of Extreme Networks, Cupertino, Calfornia.
- Ethernet is a trademark of Xerox Corporation.
WRITTEN
BY Secretary's Office
All Rights Reserved, Copyright
(C) 1998, Hitachi, Ltd.
