SMC Networks Ships Industry's First 10Gigabit Copper Ethernet Transceiver for Enterprise Switching; New Transceivers Provide CAT-5e-Based 10Gigabit Ethernet Options for SMC Switches.

IRVINE, Calif. -- SMC(R) Networks announced today that it is shipping the industry's first 10Gigabit Ethernet over CAT-5e transceivers for use as uplinks in its Gigabit Ethernet switches. Priced at $449.99 (MSRP), the new transceiver, SMC10GXEN-T, is currently available to offer flexible, low-cost, interconnect solutions operating at 10Gbps over existing CAT-5e cabling.

SMC's new 10Gigabit Ethernet XENPAK modules present a significant advancement in the deployment of 10Gigabit interconnects in enterprise LANs. Using an industry standard, "hot pluggable" XAUI interface on the host side, the SMC10GXEN-T is fast and easy to deploy. This new copper transceiver enables simple, flexible, high-bandwidth 10Gbps connections by using industry standard CAT-5e cabling and RJ45 connectors to reach up to 10m distance. By using CAT-5e cabling, IT managers can quickly and economically deploy full-duplex 10Gigabit Ethernet interconnections for switch to router and switch to server network links. Used in combination with SMC's 24- and 48-port SMC TigerStack(TM) 1000 switches (SMC8724M, SMC8748M, SMC8724ML3 and SMC8748ML3), SMC's customers now have an economical alternative to more expensive optical 10Gig solutions.