SUNNYVALE, California, October 23 /PRNewswire/ --

- Spirent TestCenter(TM) Selected to Benchmark Cisco Nexus 7000 Data Center Switch

Spirent Communications plc (LSE: SPT), a global provider of performance analysis and service management solutions, successfully completed the industry's largest-ever public 10 Gigabit Ethernet test. Supplying its Spirent TestCenter(TM) platform, the test demonstrates the company's leadership in validating next-generation Ethernet devices that power the Internet's continued expansion. Communications industry leaders such as Cisco, who are advancing this network evolution, are depending on multi-functional, comprehensive solutions from Spirent to help ensure that the multi-play networks and multi-technology platforms of tomorrow deliver the Quality of Experience (QoE) which service providers are demanding today.

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In a test involving a 256 port 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch, Spirent TestCenter authenticated the performance of the Cisco Nexus 7000 Data Center Switch in several areas including high availability and resiliency as well as performance of IPv4 unicast and multicast traffic. This test was commissioned by Network World magazine and conducted by industry leading independent test lab, Network Test. Unlike other test products, Spirent provides detailed functional analysis that goes beyond performance testing to quickly identify, isolate and resolve network and system issues early in the development and testing cycle.

The rapid growth of data centers and 10 Gigabit Ethernet make performance validation a strategic imperative for equipment vendors like Cisco, said David Newman, president, Network Test, a Network World Test Alliance partner. Using Spirent TestCenter to assess Cisco's latest data center switch was a logical choice since the test system provided the necessary scalability, density and flexibility at 10 Gigabit Ethernet rates. What's more, Spirent TestCenter allowed us to validate both control-plane and data-plane scalability.

In addition to measuring throughput and latency of unicast and multicast traffic in these tests, Spirent TestCenter also measured high availability and resiliency. These tests examined how the Cisco Nexus switch recovered from an OSPF process restart, how it handled the loss of one or more fabric cards, and how it handled in-service software upgrades and downgrades. Simulating 10 Gigabit Ethernet traffic to 256 ports at line rate speeds, Spirent TestCenter validated the ability of the Cisco Nexus switch to meet the high availability requirements of even the largest data centers.

In one of the largest public tests of its kind, Spirent continues to demonstrate why it is the preferred network performance analysis system for some of the largest telecom equipment manufacturers and service providers, said Tim Jefferson, general manager, Converged Core Solutions at Spirent Communications. Our highly scalable solutions continue to make a difference in helping engineers assess a network's functionality and performance through a single application.

Spirent TestCenter, a Layer 2-7 network performance testing platform, is specifically designed for multi-play networks and multi-device technologies. It supports the evolving protocols required for today's network devices, including IPv4/IPv6 routing, multicast, MPLS, Spanning Tree, VLAN, VLAN stacking and DHCP. It also effectively tests Ethernet switches that are capable of up to 1 Gigabit Ethernet connections to the desktop and 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections to the core. Spirent TestCenter supports the testing of network architectures that include network elements such as Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), high density Ethernet aggregation switches, application acceleration and security devices. For upper layer testing, Spirent TestCenter supports stateful TCP traffic, enabling users to correlate application-layer and lower-layer events on servers and switches.

For more information please visit www.spirent.com/go/STC

About Spirent Communications plc

Spirent Communications (www.spirentcom.com) is a global provider of integrated performance analysis and service assurance systems that enable the development and deployment of next-generation networking technology such as Internet telephony, broadband services, 3G wireless, global navigation satellite systems, and network security equipment. Spirent Communications' solutions are used by more than 1,700 customers in 30 countries, including the world's largest equipment manufacturers, service providers, enterprises and governments. Based in Sunnyvale, CA, Spirent Communications has 1,300 employees worldwide.

Spirent Communications plc Ordinary shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: SPT). The Company operates a Level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) programme with each ADR representing four Spirent Communications plc Ordinary shares. The ADRs trade in the US over-the-counter (OTC) market under the symbol SPMYY and the CUSIP number is 84856M209. Spirent Communications' sales to the United States government are made through Spirent Federal Systems Inc. www.spirentfederal.com

Spirent, Spirent Communications and the Spirent logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Spirent Communications plc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are held by their respective companies. All rights reserved.

This document may contain forward-looking statements which are made in good faith and are based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as assumptions about future events. You can sometimes, but not always, identify these statements by the use of a date in the future or such words as will, anticipate, estimate, expect, project, intend, plan, should, may, assume and other similar words. By their nature, forward-looking statements are inherently predictive and speculative and involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance and are subject to factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CONTACT: Sailaja Tennati of Spirent Communications, +1-770-432-3225, +1-240-291-6044, Sailaja.tennati@spirent.com

Web site: http://www.spirentcom.com http://www.spirent.com/go/STC http://www.spirentfederal.com

Sailaja Tennati of Spirent Communications, +1-770-432-3225, +1-240-291-6044, Sailaja.tennati@spirent.com. Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080909/CLTU016LOGO, AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org, PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com