3Com Is the Strong Leader in ‘Green’ Networking According to New Industry Research Report

In-Stat Finds 3Com LAN Switches as much as 60% More Energy-Efficient Than Competitors’

MALAYSIA – May 7, 2008 – 3Com Corporation (NASDAQ: COMS) today announced that the independent research firm In-Stat has found that 3Com’s local area network (LAN) switches are up to 60 percent more energy efficient, or “green,” than competitors’ products. By deploying an industry-leading switching solution from 3Com, customers can save money – and help the environment – by using significantly less electricity to power their high-performance networks.

The report, “Green Networking Equipment: Who Leads and Who Lags,” says there are “significant differences in the energy efficiency of similarly equipped switch equipment” and that “as many businesses develop ‘green’ initiatives… IT managers will be forced to absorb some degree of responsibility for their organization’s power usage.”

The report confirms the success of 3Com’s program to reduce energy consumption while increasing network functionality. “Businesses worldwide are looking for effective ways to reduce energy use, both to save money and to conserve resources,” said Scott Hilton, vice president of enterprise products for 3Com. “Through innovative design, 3Com’s newest products use up to 78 percent less power than previous switches. It’s gratifying that In-Stat recognizes 3Com’s industry leadership in this important area.”

Making their networks more energy efficient is fast becoming a top priority for CIOs. In an exclusive survey of IT executives published by CIO magazine in March 2008, 75 percent of respondents cited either reducing operating costs or a commitment to social responsibility as the driver for making their IT operations greener.

3Com’s David Law, chairman of the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Working group, said, “At its March 2008 meeting, the IEEE P802.3az Energy-efficient Ethernet Task selected a Low-Power Idle proposal for both 1000BASE-T and 100BASE-T. Work on selecting proposals for the remaining objectives will continue at the upcoming May meeting in Munich, Germany. Standards approval is targeted for March 2010.”

In-Stat calculated the energy efficiency of 24-port and 48-port switches from leading vendors’ portfolios and 3Com products were the clear leaders in energy efficiency in both categories.

A comparison of the fabric capacity (Gbps) per watt of 24-port Gigabit Ethernet fixed, managed Layer 2 and 3 switches found that 3Com far outpaced the rest of the industry by delivering approximately 3.25 Gbps per watt. No other vendor delivers as much as 2.0 Gbps per watt, according to In-Stat.

Among 48-port Gigabit Ethernet fixed, managed Layer 2 and 3 switches, 3Com again leads the field and is the only company able to deliver as much as 2.0 Gbps per watt. In both categories, prominent vendors such as Cisco, HP ProCurve, Nortel and Foundry were at or near the bottom of In-Stat’s rankings.

Ongoing Commitment to Green Technology

3Com is working continuously to deliver products that are even more energy-efficient. A key element of the company’s green plan is the 3Com® Open Services Networking (OSN) strategy. Applications run on Open Services Modules (OSM) embedded within networking platforms, which makes it easy for enterprises and service providers to deliver a variety of enhanced services without having to deploy numerous single-task appliances that complicate network management, take up valuable facility space, and consume excessive power. OSMs are currently available for 3Com router platforms and are currently scheduled for switching platforms later this year.

Facts About 3Com Green Switches

Over the past 18 months, 3Com has refreshed its Ethernet switching portfolio to take advantage of innovative energy-efficient components and designs. The company’s research shows that upgrading older switches can deliver significant energy savings. For example, customers running a 3Com Switch 4070 Gigabit small campus core switch who upgrade to the 3Com Switch 5500G switch will decrease energy use by 29 percent. Likewise, moving from the Switch 4400 Fast Ethernet edge switch to Switch 5500-EI family devices will enable businesses to reduce energy consumption by approximately 60 percent.

A comparison with other vendors’ switches confirms 3Com’s energy efficiency leadership. The 3Com Switch 4500G 24-Port Gigabit switch consumes 20 percent less energy than the Cisco Catalyst 3560G-24TS and 11 percent less than the HP ProCurve 3400cl-24G, based on published watts per switch power consumption figures. The 3Com Switch 4500G 48-Port consumes 25 percent less power than the Catalyst 3560G-48TS and 15 percent less than the HP ProCurve 3400cl-48G. The 3Com Switch 4210 24-Port and Switch 4210 48-Port switches consume 30 percent and 17 percent less energy than the equivalent HP ProCurve 2510 24- and 48-port switches.