Wilsonville, Oregon, May 15, 2012 – APCON, Inc., the industry leader for intelligent data capture solutions for network monitoring and data security, is pleased to announce that a major global consumer financial services company has adopted the IntellaFlex platform to ensure complete end-to-end network monitoring in its North American data center, with additional rollouts planned worldwide.

Data security is a forefront issue in enterprise-level network management as the world's largest companies strive to protect sensitive financial and personal information entrusted to them by their customers. APCON 10G Ethernet network monitoring switches have become the industry standard solution to monitor and protect data transactions on a publicly-accessible network.

"We're pleased to add this customer to our long list of global Fortune 1000 clients. No company can afford to take risks with their customers' data – especially personal finance information," says Richard Rauch, President and CEO of APCON.

The Customer's Challenge

As the global economy turns more and more towards digital currencies, consumer and business financial services companies will rise or fall based on their ability to maintain a responsive and secure data network to process transactions, balance inquiries, and critical metadata. The explosion of online and card-based transactions now requires a new generation of networks and data security apparatus.

This company had previously implemented a stack of single rack-unit monitoring switches, daisy-chained together with network cables. This system had reached the end of its scalability, leaving the company no room to grow its network monitoring capability to keep pace with the constantly increasing demand.

Furthermore, the multiple chassis setup was hard to administer and required time-consuming on-site repatching and maintenance. To better serve its network security tools, the company decided to examine feature-rich high port density blade-based solutions to replace this aging technology.

This customer also required assurance that the new solution would be easily upgradable without a chassis replacement or complex "forklift" update path. As greater port densities and new networking technologies such as 10G, 40G and 100G Ethernet become the standard, the customer required scalability and proof that the vendor would provide a steady stream of pacesetting technology.

The IntellaFlex Solution

APCON brought in the IntellaPatch series 3000 chassis, capable of supporting up to eight 36-port IntellaFlex 10G blades per chassis – offering the industry's highest 10G port density in a single chassis. This IntellaFlex solution offers full packet aggregation, filtering, data rate conversion, and dynamic load balancing from every port, allowing maximum configurability without repatching and providing the high port density required by a modern production data center.

The IntellaFlex solution also offers substantial advantages in scaling to multiple chassis to effectively monitor any size data network that might be designed and implemented in the future. With interchangeable blades, power supplies, and switch controllers, the APCON solution meets the enterprise-grade requirements of the modern financial services production data network. Existing switch chassis may be upgraded in moments simply by inserting a new blade. With APCON's modular design and the compatibility of IntellaFlex blades in all sizes of APCON switch chassis, 100% of the customer's investment is protected.

APCON's consistent investment in research and development to advance the state of the art in network monitoring switches is reflected in the company's steady flow of new products. In 2012 alone, APCON has released new products in groundbreaking areas such as on-board storage and analysis with IntellaStore, in 10G and 40G Ethernet blades, and in specialized blades with features such as time stamping.

Software Sets APCON Apart

Another factor that won APCON this customer contract was the superior software interface offered for the IntellaFlex system. APCON's firmware-based network visualization interface allows remote, detailed and immediate single-switch management. The customer also chose the optional TITAN multi-switch configuration and maintenance software to tie together the multiple APCON switches purchased for the initial project roll-out. As the company standardizes on the APCON solution, further rollouts are planned worldwide, and TITAN brings scalability and transparent connection management to the entire network monitoring system.

"Time stamping is an absolute requirement of financial trading markets, where nanosecond level accuracy determines high stakes transaction winners and losers. We've factored input from financial data customers to enable them to have certainty about the order in which transaction packets arrive," says Richard Rauch, President and CEO of APCON.

Challenge: Latency in Financial Trading Networks

In stock exchange and other automated trading environments, network latency is expressed as the delay induced as a transaction packet travels over the network. Latency is a primary focus because of the "first come, first served" nature of a real-time market. Remote traders, whether human or computer, demand extremely low-latency solutions to get their trade orders registered on the trading server before their competition can do so. The trader's primary concern is a low latency loop from the local computer to the stock exchange server. In this environment, millisecond-level delays can have a profound effect on a trader's results.

As APCON network monitoring switches are used for monitoring the transactions passing through the primary network, financial data centers are concerned about latency within the network monitoring subsystem. The monitoring system is designed to keep a record of the packets that traversed the network precisely in the order in which they arrived at the data center. Even with low and predictable latency in the monitoring system, occasional and unpredictable sub-second spikes in network traffic may confuse the monitoring appliances as to the exact order of packet arrival.

Solution: Time Stamping

The solution to spiking network traffic and its effect on latency is simply to stamp each packet with an accurate and precise time as it enters the network monitoring switch. This minimizes the importance of latency within the monitoring subsystem because the packets can be easily reordered according to time stamp. Time stamping is not difficult to perform in and of itself, but a meaningful stamp requires the network monitoring switch to maintain a clock that is precisely synchronized with the clock on the primary network links.

There are several methods of obtaining a precise and accurate clock signal. The most accurate and widely used time source today is a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal, as these signals are synchronized worldwide to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). A GPS antenna is connected to the time stamping blade to provide the signal. This provides a uniform timing source that is accurate and precise to the nanosecond level. Some installations operate on an internal precision clock and share an Inter-Range Instrumentation Group (IRIG) signal with switches in the data center.

APCON Time Stamping Blade and IntellaPatch Switches

APCON's time stamping blade offers 18 ingress ports, with each port capable of stamping all incoming packets to the nanosecond level before passing them through the switch and on to network monitoring tools. This blade supports either a GPS or IRIG input signal to set the correct time.

The APCON solution is unique on the market today because the GPS or IRIG signal can be brought into a single time stamping blade, and then that blade will output a Pulse Per Second (PPS) signal that is directed to the timing input of the next time stamping blade, and so on for all ingress blades on the chassis. This feature allows APCON to claim the highest time stamping port density on the market today.

The IntellaFlex time stamping blade is compatible across APCON's family of IntellaPatch switches, and is compatible with APCON's 10G IntellaPatch and IntellaFlex blades, providing access to packet aggregation, filtering, and data rate conversion features. These features allow network managers to monitor 10G links with 1G tools, saving up to tens of thousands of dollars per tool.

"The explosion of mobile and video traffic is driving Enterprise-level data centers to implement 40G Ethernet links to keep up with bandwidth demands. Throughout the network, critical path network segments need to be monitored. That's why APCON is bringing this new 40G blade to the market – production data centers can't afford to take data security risks on their 40G links," says Richard Rauch, President and CEO of APCON.

40G Ethernet Gaining Hold

Just as data centers worldwide are standardizing on 10G Ethernet links, new networking technology running at 40 Gigabits per second is setting the new standard to keep pace with bandwidth demands. Even the largest and most advanced data centers are working to provide adequate data security with a limited selection of tools capable of communicating at 40G speeds.

Budget-conscious network managers moving to 40G connections need to preserve their existing investment in 10G and even 1G network analysis appliances. APCON's IntellaFlex solution offers network managers a money-saving alternative by providing efficient packet aggregation, filtering, and data rate conversion in a single blade. The same 40G blade can be deployed across APCON's scalable chassis infrastructure.

IntellaFlex Enterprise-Grade Solutions

This new blade provides 8 ports of 40G Ethernet, together with 24 ports of configurable 1G or 10G Ethernet, making it perfectly suited to the enterprise production data center environment. When integrated into APCON's unique 4 rack unit extended capability backplane IntellaPatch Series 3000 chassis, data center managers can configure up to 32 ports of 40G and 96 ports of 10G Ethernet, all fully aggregatable.

APCON's IntellaFlex blades are designed to fit into any APCON Series 3000 chassis, from 1RU to 8RU, providing maximum scalability. Interchangeable blades, redundant switch control cards, and redundant power supplies ensure maximum uptime in production data centers.

The IntellaFlex solution allows data from multiple TAP or SPAN ports to be aggregated into a single stream, load balanced and directed to data mining and forensic devices instantly and remotely using a secure web interface.

Rate conversion from aggregated 1G and 10G inputs to 1G outputs combined with comprehensive data filtering enables data centers to effectively monitor all network segments using existing 1G devices without data loss.

APCON Industry-Leading Management Software Solutions

Another benefit of the IntellaFlex solution is that it uses web-based graphical software tools to allow visually-based remote administration of connections, aggregations, filters, and outputs.

APCON's innovative TITAN EnterPoint™ multi-switch management software allows managers to maintain and batch-upgrade an entire inventory of APCON switches from a single screen at any location. This software also enables network analysts to manage connectivity between data sources and network monitoring equipment more efficiently – helping make the standard of five-nines network uptime more attainable. The software automatically determines the source-to-destination pathways and routing requirements, and can seamlessly manage port interconnections spanning multiple switches and locations.

"Driven by an explosion of mobile, video and data content, the need for high-density 10G network monitoring switches has become essential. We're delighted to offer the industry's highest density of 144 10G ports in a single 4 rack unit chassis," says Richard Rauch, President and CEO of APCON.

The 10G Transition

Ethernet running at 10 Gigabits per second is now the standard in enterprise-level data centers worldwide. Yet this infrastructure is expensive even by multinational corporate standards. The challenge is compounded when a variety of 1G and 10G network segments are represented and all segments must be monitored. The price of a single 10G network analyzer can exceed $100,000.

Budget-conscious network managers need to preserve their existing investment in 1G network analysis appliances, and use their expensive new 10G tools at highest efficiency. IntellaFlex offers network managers a solution by providing efficient packet aggregation, filtering, and data rate conversion in a single affordable chassis.

IntellaFlex Enterprise-Grade Solutions

The new 36 port 10G APCON blade packs industry-best bandwidth concentration with 36 ports/360G throughput in 1RU, 72 ports/720G throughput in 2RU, and 144 ports/1.44T throughput in a 4RU chassis.

All of APCON's IntellaFlex blades are designed to fit into any APCON Series 3000 chassis, from 1RU to 8RU, providing maximum scalability. Interchangeable blades, redundant switch control cards, and redundant power supplies ensure maximum uptime in production data centers.

Due to APCON's innovative scalable chassis architecture, this new 36 port blade is field-upgradable into many existing installations. APCON's hardware compatibility allows its customers to double existing 10G port count without purchasing and installing a new switch chassis.

The IntellaFlex solution allows data from multiple TAP or SPAN ports to be aggregated into a single stream, load balanced and directed to data mining and forensic devices instantly and remotely using a secure web interface.

Rate conversion from aggregated 1G and 10G inputs to 1G outputs combined with comprehensive data filtering enables data centers to effectively monitor all network segments using existing 1G devices without data loss.

APCON Industry-Leading Management Software Solutions

Another benefit of the IntellaFlex solution is that it uses web-based graphical software tools to allow visually-based remote administration of connections, aggregations, filters, and outputs.

APCON's innovative TITAN EnterPoint™ multi-switch management software allows managers to maintain and batch-upgrade an entire inventory of APCON switches from a single screen at any location. This software also enables network analysts to manage connectivity between data sources and network monitoring equipment more efficiently – helping make the standard of five-nines network uptime more attainable. The software automatically determines the source-to-destination pathways and routing requirements, and can seamlessly manage port interconnections spanning multiple switches and locations.

Wilsonville, Oregon, April 19, 2012 – APCON, Inc., the industry leader for intelligent data capture solutions for network monitoring and security, is pleased to announce that IntellaStore has been named a finalist for Best New Product in Network Product Guide's 2012 Hot Companies and Best Products Awards. These industry and peer awards from Network Products Guide are among the world's premier information technology awards honoring achievements and recognitions in every facet of the IT industry. Winners will be honored in Las Vegas on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 during the 7th annual dinner and presentations.

IntellaStore is a compact packet aggregation switch with on-board disk storage and an embedded copy of the popular Wireshark network protocol analyzer. The IntellaStore switch combines the extensive APCON feature set with the ability to capture, store, export and replay network data for later analysis.

"IntellaStore allows packet aggregation, filtering, data capture and Wireshark analysis capability on our entry-level 1RU switch, bringing enterprise-class network monitoring and data security within reach of any size business. We're pleased that our product made it to the finals," says Richard Rauch, President and CEO of APCON.

The Case for Onboard Data Capture and Embedded Analysis

Smaller installations have the same needs for network security monitoring as their larger data center counterparts, yet often lack the budget for a comprehensive set of monitoring tools. The challenge is compounded when a variety of 1G and 10G network segments are represented and all segments must be monitored. The price of a single 10G analyzer can exceed $100,000.

Budget-conscious network managers have adopted the popular open-source network traffic analyzer Wireshark as a low-cost solution. Using Wireshark, network analysts can replay, analyze, and export network data captures as needed.

The IntellaStore Solution

APCON's IntellaStore 1RU packet aggregation switch with data capture and analysis allows network managers to isolate portions of network traffic and store the data directly on the switch. This system stores captured packets from a single source or multiple aggregated links, optimized with advanced software features such as rate conversion from 10G to 1G, packet filtering, and port tagging.

IntellaStore provides twelve 1G and two 10G ports, for a total of 14 aggregatable ports in a specially designed single-slot 1RU chassis. Optional redundant power supplies ensure maximum uptime in minimally staffed or lights-out locations. To facilitate data storage, IntellaStore offers a pair of 750GB hard disks and APCON has placed a copy of Wireshark directly into the IntellaStore switch firmware.

Wireshark is integrated into the IntellaStore graphical switch management tool, WebX. Simply click the Wireshark button on the software interface for complete access to the analyzer.

APCON will feature the IntellaStore solution at Interop Las Vegas, May 7-10, 2012.

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Unlike individual passive network tap units, the IntellaTap blade simplifies network monitoring and security efforts. By integrating the IntellaTap blade into a single chassis with APCON's IntellaFlex and IntellaPatch switching blades, network managers are able to apply aggregation, rate conversion and filtering to tapped traffic, and deliver those data streams to monitoring equipment from a single secure interface.

"IntellaTap is the next step in APCON's plan to deliver a complete family of industry-leading network monitoring and security products," said Richard Rauch, President and CEO of APCON. "With IntellaTap, we're meeting the needs of data center managers who require a tapping solution that installs in the network monitoring switch."

The IntellaTap Solution

APCON's IntellaTap is a 1RU blade that fits into any IntellaPatch SERIES 3000 chassis. IntellaTap routes tapped data directly through the chassis backplane to an APCON IntellaPatch or IntellaFlex blade. This integrated design eliminates unnecessary fiber cabling and connections, improving reliability and sustaining the physical security of the link being tapped. IntellaTap passes full-duplex traffic transparently at line rate, which allows monitoring tools to conduct comprehensive troubleshooting and achieve 100% visibility at every layer of the network.

Each pair of IntellaTap ports taps one 10G inline fiber-optic connection with a high-precision optical splitter, routing the tapped data through the chassis backplane to any other port (or ports) on the switch. Various optical signal split ratios are available, ranging from 50:50 through to 90:10, based on individual installation requirements.

IntellaTap is a managed tap, offering statistics, diagnostics, and SNMP capabilities, while maintaining the failsafe characteristics of a passive tap. When integrated with an IntellaFlex blade in the same chassis, IntellaTap supports full packet aggregation, 10G to 1G rate conversion, port tagging and packet filtering capabilities.

"Tapping a 10G link and converting the data rate to 1G on an IntellaFlex blade integrated into the same chassis allows data center managers to use their existing 1G tools to analyze the 10G link," Rauch said.

By integrating IntellaTap with the Series 3000 chassis, both capability and connectivity are enhanced. Primary features of APCON's enterprise-class IntellaPatch Series 3000 chassis architecture include redundant power supplies and fault-tolerant dual controller cards.

Unlike switches with single controllers that can halt network operations during a failure, the APCON design offers high availability failover, allowing it to be used in the production network of an enterprise. Should the active controller fail, the standby unit powers off the failing controller and assumes the active device role. Failover occurs in a matter of seconds, with no impact on active connections. Even in the event of complete power failure, each IntellaTap port pair defaults to a transparent open connection. Connectivity on the primary link is maintained at all times.

APCON will showcase the new IntellaTap solution at the RSA conference in San Francisco, California, February 28 to March 2, 2012.

"Customers have told us that they need a cost-effective network monitoring solution for remote office applications with low port counts," notes Richard Rauch, President and CEO of APCON. "We responded with this new, more affordable switch that solves the problem for them."

The Remote Location Challenge

Many data center managers face the challenge of factoring remote locations into their overall monitoring effort. While these sites typically have fewer ports, they face the same security and up-time challenges as the core network. In addition, these sites are often geographically distributed—including branch locations, satellite offices or lights-out facilities.

Data center managers are not able to purchase enough network monitoring devices to dedicate a set to these small and remote locations. Yet the need for comprehensive monitoring remains unchanged. The challenge is compounded when a variety of 1G and 10G network segments are represented in several remote data centers and all segments must be monitored. The price of a single 10G analyzer can exceed $100,000.

The IntellaFlex-LE Solution

The IntellaFlex-LE data aggregation switch is designed specifically for applications requiring low port densities distributed across multiple locations. IntellaFlex-LE provides twelve 1G and two 10G ports, for a total of 14 aggregatable ports in a specially designed single-slot 1RU chassis. Redundant power supplies ensure maximum uptime in minimally staffed or lights-out locations.

As with all APCON packet aggregator solutions, IntellaFlex-LE allows data from multiple sources to be aggregated, load balanced and directed to data mining and forensic devices instantly and remotely using a secure web interface.

Rate conversion from aggregated 1G and 10G inputs to 1G outputs combined with comprehensive data filtering enables data centers to effectively monitor all network segments using existing 1G devices without data loss.

APCON Industry-Leading Management Software Solutions

Another benefit of this system is that it uses the same web-based graphical software tools as APCON's larger switches. This makes IntellaFlex-LE a completely integrated solution.

APCON's innovative TITAN EnterPoint™ multi-switch management software allows managers to maintain and batch-upgrade an entire inventory of APCON switches from a single screen at any location . This software also enables network analysts to manage connectivity between data sources and network monitoring equipment more efficiently—helping make the standard of "five-nines" network uptime more attainable. The software automatically determines the source-to-destination pathways and routing requirements, and can seamlessly manage port interconnections spanning multiple switches and locations.

APCON will present the new IntellaFlex-LE solution at Cisco Live UK, Jan 31 ^st to Feb 3 ^rd , 2012.

"IntellaStore breaks new ground for APCON. Our customers asked for data capture and analysis capability on our entry-level 1RU switch, and we're pleased to address that need for them," says Richard Rauch, President and CEO of APCON.

The Case for Onboard Data Capture and Embedded Analysis

Smaller installations have the same needs for network security monitoring as their larger data center counterparts, yet often lack the budget for a comprehensive set of monitoring tools. The challenge is compounded when a variety of 1G and 10G network segments are represented and all segments must be monitored. The price of a single 10G analyzer can exceed $100,000.

Budget-conscious network managers have adopted the popular open-source network traffic analyzer Wireshark as a low-cost solution. Using Wireshark, network analysts can replay, analyze, and export network data captures as needed.

The IntellaStore Solution

APCON's IntellaStore 1RU packet aggregation switch with data capture and analysis allows network managers to isolate portions of network traffic and store the data directly on the switch. This system stores captured packets from a single source or multiple aggregated links, optimized with advanced software features such as rate conversion from 10G to 1G, packet filtering, and port tagging.

IntellaStore provides twelve 1G and two 10G ports, for a total of 14 aggregatable ports in a specially designed single-slot 1RU chassis. Redundant power supplies ensure maximum uptime in minimally staffed or lights-out locations. To facilitate data storage, IntellaStore offers a pair of 160GB hard disks and APCON has placed a copy of Wireshark directly into the IntellaStore switch firmware.

Wireshark is integrated into the IntellaStore graphical switch management tool, WebX. Simply click the Wireshark button on the software interface for complete access to the analyzer.

APCON will present the new IntellaStore solution at Cisco Live UK, Jan 31^st to Feb 3^rd, 2012.

APCON will be on site throughout the four-day event, participating in the expo's educational and technical networking mission. With a booth on the show's main floor, APCON's presence at Cisco Live! will reflect its leadership status in the data center networking community.

"Our customers trust us to meet their challenges—and they're not shy about letting us know that they expect top quality products to support their enterprise data centers. We're excited about our new products for 2012, and we're looking forward to kicking off the year at Cisco Live ," says Richard Rauch, President and CEO of APCON.

New Products for 2012

APCON will present two new products at Cisco Live! Europe, as well as a number of updates to the existing APCON product family.

The new products to be presented include a compact packet aggregation switch optimized for small and remote locations, and a second compact packet aggregation switch that includes on-board disk storage providing the ability to capture, store, export and replay network data for analysis.

Unique Packet Aggregation and Filtering Switch Solution

APCON will display the newest features of its unique IntellaFlex™ line of packet aggregation switches. With a selection of 1RU, 2RU, 4RU, and 8RU chassis, and a variety of blades providing up to 288 configurable ports, APCON switches are the choice for maximum network visibility. Data filtering, port tagging, and load balancing complement APCON's state-of-the-art packet aggregation on IntellaFlex .

Industry-Leading Multi-Switch Management Solution

APCON will also demonstrate the latest upgrades to its innovative TITAN EnterPoint™ multi-switch management solution. This application allows managers to maintain and batch-upgrade an entire inventory of APCON switches from a single screen at any location, including the two new switches being added to the APCON product family . This software also enables network analysts to manage connectivity between data sources and network monitoring equipment more efficiently—helping make the standard of "five-nines" network uptime more attainable. The software automatically determines the source-to-destination pathways and routing requirements, and can seamlessly manage port interconnections spanning multiple switches and locations.

APCON's suite of cutting-edge products deliver key monitoring efficiencies for Global Fortune 500 data centers worldwide by promoting higher uptime and simpler management of business-critical enterprise networks.

In booth #527, APCON is featuring the following new products:

• New 18-port 10G aggregation and filtering blade – APCON has expanded its family of IntellaFlex™ Packet Aggregator blades with a new offering – a high-density 10G blade that offers 18 user-settable ports of 1G/10G. The new, single-chassis maximum port count with this blade is 144 ports of 10G in 8U when installed in the eight-blade chassis, and 72 ports of 10G in 4U when installed in the four-blade chassis.
  
  This new blade is not only ideal for space-constrained, high density data center monitoring applications, but also supports features such as port tagging and flow-aware load balancing.
  
  
• New diagram-based user interface with load balancing – APCON has continually delivered intuitive, leading-edge user interfaces, and the addition of a diagramming capability to its embedded switch interface WebX extends this reputation. This new functionality being showcased at Interop offers users the ability to make connections on a visual, Visio-style drawing canvas.
  
  This software now also includes load balancing – a feature that evenly distributes a stream of network traffic to a group of destination ports to prevent traffic loss and make more efficient use of monitoring devices. An additional key feature is port tagging, which offers a quick reference field for determining the source of troubled network traffic.
  
  
• TITAN EnterPoint™ – this innovative multi-switch management software platform allows users to maintain an entire inventory of APCON switches from a central location. This software also enables IT staff to manage connectivity between data sources and network analysis equipment more efficiently – helping make the standard of "five-nines" network uptime more attainable. The software automatically determines the source-to-destination pathways and routing requirements, and can seamlessly manage port interconnections spanning multiple switches and locations.
  

Also on view in APCON's booth during Interop is the complete IntellaPatch^® Series 3000 family, the most flexible and scalable switching solution available today – providing up to 288 ports in a single chassis. When populated with IntellaFlex Packet Aggregator blades, this solution offers 256 ports of 1G or 96 ports of 10G aggregation connectivity in 8RU.