SCIENCE

Foundry Networks today announced that fast-growing online discounter Overstock.com has selected an end-to-end wired and wireless solution from Foundry Networks to power its online business. Overstock.com has grown tremendously since its founding in 1999, reporting revenue increases of 80% in 2004 with more than half a million products listed and millions of devoted customers. Overstock.com selected Foundry infrastructure to expand its data center and build out its new corporate headquarters near Salt Lake City, Utah. Foundry was selected for the new build-out because of its proven track record in delivering high performance, low latency, reliable and scalable solutions from edge to core, and Overstock.com's success and satisfaction with its previous deployments of Foundry infrastructure. Foundry's BigIron MG8 high-performance 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10-GbE) switches will power the network backbone at Overstock.com's new headquarters, and BigIron and FastIron Edge switches equipped with 10-GbE uplinks will provide high-capacity aggregation and Layer 2/3 intelligence at the network's edge. Foundry's IronPoint access points will be deployed throughout Overstock.com's new headquarters to provide high-speed, easy-to-manage and secure wireless LAN services. Overstock.com's data center infrastructure was expanded and reinforced with Foundry's NetIron routers running BGP-4 over Gigabit Ethernet links to the company's Internet Service Providers (ISPs). ServerIronXL applications switches provide the load balancing for Overstock.com's front-end web services. BigIron Layer 2/3 switches provide the Gigabit Ethernet connectivity for the data center's back-end storage farm. "We required a solution that could deliver high performance, low latency, stability and the massive scalability we need, at the right price," said Shawn Schwegman, Chief Technical Officer for Overstock.com. "Our main challenges were scalability and performance under load. We needed equipment that would perform consistently and handle the traffic peaks that occur in the fourth quarter of the year without service degradation. Foundry has helped us achieve this level of performance with a solution that will accommodate future growth." "We are delighted to be part of the Overstock.com success story," said Bob Schiff, vice president of Product Marketing of Foundry Networks. "Overstock.com's rapid growth proves the strength of their e-commerce business model and supporting infrastructure. We look forward to our continuing work with Overstock.com as they scale and diversify their business."