Strato Medien Makes World’s Highest-Capacity Internet Router from Cisco Systems a Cornerstone of Its IP Next- Generation Network

First Web Hosting Company in Europe Relying on Cisco Carrier Routing System (CRS-1) to Handle IncreasingTraffic

MUNICH, Germany, June 29, 2006 - Cisco Systems® today announced that European Web hosting provider Strato Medien AG has deployed a Cisco® Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) featuring the Cisco Carrier Routing System (CRS-1) - the world’s highest-capacity IP core network routing system - to handle rapidly increasing volumes of data traffic. With more than 2 million domains and 1 million customer contracts, Strato requires a heavy-duty next-generation network platform to manage current monthly increases in data traffic of more than 20 percent. Already one of Europe’s leading Internet service providers, the company recently announced the introduction of its Web hosting services in France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain.

From its data centers in Berlin and Karlsruhe, Strato offers its business and private customers Web hosting, broadband Internet access (DSL), e-commerce solutions, dedicated servers and a content management system for the creation of Web sites. To offer these services without interruption, Strato places great importance on the continuous operation of the core routing platform. Given its new customers and future services, Strato expects a continuation of above-average data growth, which requires a highly scalable and flexible routing platform for maximum system longevity.

“The Cisco CRS-1 is an extremely high-capacity platform with great longevity, allowing us to avoid having to replace the technology on a regular basis to accommodate higher bandwidths and traffic volumes,” said René Wienholtz, member of the board of Strato Rechenzentrum AG. “The Cisco CRS-1 system meets all our requirements in terms of security, reliability and redundancy.”

“As one of the fastest-growing Web hosting providers, Strato has to rely on a network that can be upgraded without service interruptions to keep pace with a rapidly expanding customer base and growing traffic requirements,” said Michael Ganser, vice president and general manager, Cisco Systems Germany. “We are happy to support the European expansion of Strato with the Cisco CRS-1, the highly-available core of our IP Next-Generation Network architecture.”

In addition to the CRS-1, Strato uses numerous other Cisco routing and switching components in its IP NGN infrastructure. For example, the corporation employs Cisco XR 12000 Series Routers with the self-healing Cisco IOS® XR operating system in its Karlsruhe operations centre, together with Cisco Catalyst® 6500 Series Switches.

The new carrier routing system was implemented and configured by Cisco Gold Certified Partner avodaq AG.

Technical Details of the CRS-1

The Cisco CRS-1 helps service providers scale their core network capacity from 640 gigabits per second to 92 terabits per second. As a result, the system can help extend the scalability of service provider networks and support the convergence of networks and services. With the aim of addressing the high availability requirements of today’s operators, the Cisco CRS-1 provides features such as continuous operation during maintenance and upgrades. The IOS XR operating system supports fault containment, autorecovery and in-service upgrades at the processing level as well.
About Strato Medien AG

STRATO, based in Berlin, Germany, is one of the market leaders among European Internet service providers with two million domains and a million customer contracts. Besides complete domain packages and DSL broadband access, STRATO markets high-quality servers and solutions in the area of e-commerce at competitive price levels. All STRATO Web services are provided on servers at the high-performance computing centers in Berlin and Karlsruhe. An ultra-modern and multiply protected “load-balanced” server farm ensures high performance of the Web presences even during peak loads. STRATO AG was the first major European Web host to receive the internationally coveted German Technical Control Board (TÜV) seal “BS7799” for the reliability of its computing centers and statements regarding security and data availability.

STRATO is a wholly owned subsidiary of freenet.de AG, a listed Internet and telecommunications company. STRATO benefits from the competence of its parent company and utilizes existing group synergies to offer its customers exceptional services: freenet.de AG is one of the few providers to have its own network and hence a powerful infrastructure for data and speech exchange. This enables freenet.de AG to offer customers throughout the group an optimum tariff plans and the highest level of performance as well as innovative products like the DSL telephony package iPhone.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Information on Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in Europe is supplied by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.

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