Effnet to Add Integrated Firewall to the ROC (Router on a Card)

9/14/1999 2:10 PM EST

Gigabit Router/Firewall Combo will Turn PC Servers into Low Cost, High
Performance Network Devices

September 14, 1999, Atlanta, GA - Effnet announced at the Networld+Interop
show today that they are adding sophisticated firewall capabilities to the
Effnet ROC (Router On a Card). When the router/firewall combo ships early
next year Effnet will have completed a major step in Avalanche, the rollout
initiative they unveiled in May. By adding firewall security Effnet will
expand the repertoire of the ROC, a platform that will also eventually include
VPN (virtual private network), QoS (Quality of Service), and bandwidth
management functions.

The ROC is Effnet's solution to the persistent problems of network congestion
(caused in part by computation intensive components such as routers and
firewalls) and growing network complexity (spurred on by the proliferation of
specialized, proprietary boxes needed to manage traffic). By bundling a
sophisticated set of communications features onto a single add-in card Effnet
is striving to simplify networks, ease management, reduce costs, and give
server vendors another way to compete in the increasingly contentious
networking arena.

ROC-equipped servers can function as sophisticated network edge devices that
manage traffic and optimize security for enterprise networks, and for branch
office connectivity and SOHO applications.

Effnet Introduces "Selective Inspection" for Smart and Fast Firewall
Filtering

Effnet engineers have devised a way to bring high performance firewall
filtering to the ROC platform using a method that is an outgrowth of their
proprietary algorithms. The Effnet ROC architecture combined with a new
technique called "selective inspection" makes it possible to simultaneously
route and filter IP traffic at Gigabit speeds.

Effnet's "selective filtering" improves on established stateful inspection
methods in a number of important ways. Stateful inspection reduces the delays
inherent in filtering by tracking active connections in a database. By
automatically applying decisions based on the first packet to all subsequent
packets that are part of the same open connection, firewalls that use stateful
inspection eliminate the need to make filtering decisions on each and every
packet.

As a direct consequence of the efficiency of Effnet's filtering engine there
is no need to avoid performing filtering decisions. Each packet is processed
by the filtering engine, which is tightly integrated with the stateful
inspection engine. Effnet's firewall selectively applies stateful inspection
only to the packet where it is necessary.

Even for high security needs, resulting in complex configurations of thousands
of filtering rules, the ROC will perform more than 250K filtering decisions
per second, and support up to 16,000 concurrent outbound connections.

Product Specifications
The Effnet ROC is a PCI "blade" that is equipped with single or dual
StrongARM processors. It has a peripheral mezzanine connector (PMC) for
popular network interface boards. Two and four-port Fast Ethernet network
interface cards are part of the initial product offering. In the future
Effnet will provide a wide variety of LAN/WAN interface cards as dictated by
customer demand.

The Effnet ROC works with popular IP routing protocols such as RIP, OSPF and
BGP-4, DVMRP, and will soon include advanced firewall technology such as:

-Selective inspection
-Network Address Translation
-Secure fragment filtering
-Management of all known attacks
-Dynamic filtering

About Effnet
Effnet was established in the spring of 1997 based on the revolutionary
results of a research project at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden.
These results are the foundation of the Effnet algorithms, now in their third
generation.

Effnet now has 45 employees and is expanding rapidly. Research and
development are based in Luleå. In 1998, the company opened sales and
marketing offices in Boston, Massachusetts and an additional office in
Stockholm, Sweden. The company's technology has been field tested and proven
via a line of firewall products initially marketed exclusively in Sweden.
Server-based, PCI add-on products based on Effnet's algorithm will become
available in the coming months.

Effnet's mission is to develop and market multifunction networking products
that deliver outstanding performance at affordable prices. By using highly
efficient algorithms and data structures, Effnet technology breaks
conventional performance barriers for table-lookups and filtering operations
delivering low cost but high performance networking and telecommunications
"accelerators" for PC and web servers, and turn-key routing and security
solutions.

Effnet Group AB shares are publicly traded on Stockholm Stock Exchange's New
Market (EFFN). Additional information about Effnet is available through the
Web at www.effnet.com and by calling (508) 650-3412.


Contact:

Jim Spoerl
Effnet Inc.
(508) 650-3412
 

Bob Geller
PR@vantage
(212) 840-5905