SOURCE: Extreme Networks, Inc.

September 26, 2008 07:05 ET

Phonoscope and Extreme Networks Play Leading Role in Disaster Recovery for Houston Following Hurricane Ike

Network Services Recovered Rapidly After Flooding, Strong Winds and Chaotic Power Losses Occur Throughout the Houston Metro

SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwire - September 26, 2008) - Following the flooding and destruction brought by "Hurricane Ike" throughout the Houston area last week, Extreme Networks, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: EXTR) Ethernet network solutions and account teams helped answer the call for metro service provider Phonoscope, which carried out its disaster recovery procedures helping hundreds of its customers regain communications and data.

Phonoscope met the challenge last week to reinstate fiber-based optic Ethernet connectivity for businesses and government agencies in the hours and days following the powerful hurricane. Disaster recovery planning started early beginning with strategy meetings to review and update Phonoscope's emergency procedures prior to the onset of the hurricane season. As Hurricane Ike loomed in the gulf, the network team began to execute its strategy as early as the Thursday prior to landfall for the storm. Hurricane Ike hit at daybreak on Saturday, September 13, with 100 mph winds and immense rainfall.

Kurt Rushe, Network Operations Manager for Phonoscope, stated that, "Phonoscope's Network Operations Center personnel were continuously available through the duration of the storm and answered close to 3,000 calls as Hurricane Ike approached and immediately following. As soon as the storm passed through, Phonoscope's NOC, data, operations, and field personnel immediately began implementing restoration measures providing the speediest restoration of service record of any utility in the affected area."

Phonoscope has provided Gigabit Ethernet LAN services to the Houston area over the last decade and was presented with a critical challenge of rapidly and efficiently delivering network services to those public safety, municipal, enterprise businesses, school districts, and universities adversely affected by the storm. At the peak of the outage, up to 700 network devices were out of commission; however, in less than a week 90% of customer services were restored.

"We were very pleased that following Hurricane Ike, everything came back up and online almost perfectly, once we had the benefit of power to the buildings," said Robert Jacobs, Network Director for Phonoscope. "We had no reconfigurations lost from the many power cycles and hits that we experienced with our switches. Further, we have even had several of Extreme Networks' Summit® and BlackDiamond® Ethernet switches running at a hot 62 Celsius, operating without air conditioning over four consecutive days following the storm, yet they have continued to deliver."

Phonoscope tackled the challenge of reinstating network services, everything from aggregation nodes to well over a thousand Extreme Networks® edge switches located in customer sites through the Greater Houston area. Baytown was also hit hard by the storm, and Phonoscope was able to rapidly power up network services for critical care medical facilities and other enterprise customers in that area. In some cases, the only form of voice communication available in the area was due to the IP network.

While some switches were damaged due to flood waters, Phonoscope air freighted replacement devices and Summit X450 and Summit X250s which are simple to reinstall. "What shined was the use of Extreme Networks EPICenter® management software for switch configuration, giving us the capability to make changes rapidly across the network for many clients," said Jacobs. "A customer may have had just one flight of power, so entire networks and Layer 2 VLAN topologies were shifted on the fly to where they would be best utilized."

"We have been honored to work with Phonoscope over the last decade and to have assisted them to recover network services at such a critical time following such a large storm last week," said Paul Hooper, chief marketing officer for Extreme Networks. "This successful outcome is a testament to the commitment of many professionals and the simplicity, flexibility and overall resiliency of Ethernet networking."

About Phonoscope

Since 1953, Phonoscope has provided telecommunications technology solutions to the Houston area. Phonoscope has pioneered the deployment of leading edge services, including the nation's first 10 gigabit Ethernet Metropolitan Area Network. The company is a facilities based provider with over 800 commercial on-net buildings that reach seven counties with over 9,000 route miles of fiber. Phonoscope services include Ethernet data circuits, Internet access, telephony, HD video conferencing, Cable Television, and customer video and network solutions.

For more information, visit: http://www.phonoscope.com

About Extreme Networks, Inc.

Extreme Networks provides converged Ethernet networks that support data, voice and video for enterprises and service providers. The company's network solutions feature high performance and high availability switching that deliver insight and control enabling customers to solve their real-world business communications challenges. Operating in more than 50 countries, Extreme Networks provides wired and wireless secure LANs, data center infrastructure and Service Provider Ethernet transport solutions that are complemented by global, 24x7 service and support. For more information, visit: http://www.extremenetworks.com

Extreme Networks, Summit, EPICenter and BlackDiamond are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Extreme Networks, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding the performance, speed and availability of the BlackDiamond modular switches, Summit fixed switches, and EPICenter management software. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including, but not limited to product and network configuration. We undertake no obligation to update the forward-looking information in this release. More information about potential factors that could affect our business and financial results is included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, under the captions: "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," and "Risk Factors."