Wellfleet communications
Encyclopedia
Wellfleet Communications was an Internet
router company founded in 1986 by Paul Severino, Bill Seifert, Steven Willis and David Rowe based in Bedford, Massachusetts
, and later Billerica, Massachusetts. In an attempt to more effectively compete with Cisco
Systems, its chief rival, it merged in October, 1994 with SynOptics
Communications of Santa Clara, California to form Bay Networks
in a deal worth $1.2B. Bay Networks was in turn acquired by Nortel
in June, 1998 for $9.1B.
Wellfleet was ranked the fastest-growing company in the United States by Fortune
Magazine in both 1992 and 1993, the first company to achieve that feat.
Wellfleet offered a complete range of routers, running from small office units up to their Backbone Communication Node for major enterprises or wide area networks. Their routing software and hardware architectures were generally considered somewhat faster and thus higher-performance than Cisco's by the early 1990s. While Cisco and Proteon Systems had multiprotocol routers, Wellfleet was the first to combine multiprotocol routing with bridging. Wellfleet offered the first router with an integrated T1 CSU/DSU with channelized support for voice and data.
Wellfleet also placed more emphasis on support of the up-and-coming Internet Protocol
. However, in the era of multiple Layer 3
protocols (such as Apple Computer's AppleTalk
, Novell Network's IPX
, Digital Equipment Corporation's DECnet
Routing Protocol, the IBM Systems Network Architecture (SNA) protocol and many others) prior to the dominance of IP, Cisco had developed a strong degree of multiple protocol support due to their headstart in the marketplace. This advantage enabled Cisco's routers to handle diverse enterprise needs and effectively prevented Wellfleet from gaining sufficient traction to overtake Cisco's dominant position in the Layer 3 router marketplace. At their pinnacle, Wellfleet had about 15-20% of the router market.
Seeking a way to continue to grow the company, Wellfleet had engaged with SynOptics to develop a router "blade" that was embedded within the SynOptics LattisNet Hub. At approximately the same time, Cisco partnered with Cabletron Systems
to develop a similar routing engine for the MMAC-8 Hub. It appeared at the time that there was a strong market demand for these integrated products, which led Wellfleet to the conclusion that a way to gain a strategic advantage over Cisco would be to merge with SynOptics and thus develop highly integrated hardware and management software. Conceptually, the resulting products could be used by worldwide enterprises, allowing them to deploy a single vendor's hardware from end to end across their network and manage the network with a single vendor's management software.
The resulting merged company, Bay Networks (named as such because Wellfleet was based in Boston, Massachusetts and SynOptics in San Francisco, California
, two classic bay cities) largely executed on this strategy, as evidenced by the price it fetched at acquisition by Nortel.
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
router company founded in 1986 by Paul Severino, Bill Seifert, Steven Willis and David Rowe based in Bedford, Massachusetts
Bedford, Massachusetts
Bedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is within the Greater Boston area, north-west of the city of Boston. The population of Bedford was 13,320 at the 2010 census.- History :...
, and later Billerica, Massachusetts. In an attempt to more effectively compete with Cisco
Cisco
Cisco may refer to:Companies:*Cisco Systems, a computer networking company* Certis CISCO, corporatised entity of the former Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation in Singapore...
Systems, its chief rival, it merged in October, 1994 with SynOptics
SynOptics
SynOptics Communications was a Santa Clara, California-based early computer network equipment vendor from 1985 until 1994, when it began a series of mergers....
Communications of Santa Clara, California to form Bay Networks
Bay Networks
Bay Networks was a network hardware vendor formed through the merger of Santa Clara, California based SynOptics Communications and Billerica, Massachusetts based Wellfleet Communications on July 6, 1994...
in a deal worth $1.2B. Bay Networks was in turn acquired by Nortel
Nortel
Nortel Networks Corporation, formerly known as Northern Telecom Limited and sometimes known simply as Nortel, was a multinational telecommunications equipment manufacturer headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada...
in June, 1998 for $9.1B.
Wellfleet was ranked the fastest-growing company in the United States by Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
Magazine in both 1992 and 1993, the first company to achieve that feat.
Wellfleet offered a complete range of routers, running from small office units up to their Backbone Communication Node for major enterprises or wide area networks. Their routing software and hardware architectures were generally considered somewhat faster and thus higher-performance than Cisco's by the early 1990s. While Cisco and Proteon Systems had multiprotocol routers, Wellfleet was the first to combine multiprotocol routing with bridging. Wellfleet offered the first router with an integrated T1 CSU/DSU with channelized support for voice and data.
Wellfleet also placed more emphasis on support of the up-and-coming Internet Protocol
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
. However, in the era of multiple Layer 3
Network Layer
The network layer is layer 3 of the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking.The network layer is responsible for packet forwarding including routing through intermediate routers, whereas the data link layer is responsible for media access control, flow control and error checking.The network...
protocols (such as Apple Computer's AppleTalk
AppleTalk
AppleTalk is a proprietary suite of protocols developed by Apple Inc. for networking computers. It was included in the original Macintosh released in 1984, but is now unsupported as of the release of Mac OS X v10.6 in 2009 in favor of TCP/IP networking...
, Novell Network's IPX
IPX
Internetwork Packet Exchange is the OSI-model Network layer protocol in the IPX/SPX protocol stack.The IPX/SPXM protocol stack is supported by Novell's NetWare network operating system. Because of Netware's popularity through the late 1980s into the mid 1990s, IPX became a popular internetworking...
, Digital Equipment Corporation's DECnet
DECnet
DECnet is a suite of network protocols created by Digital Equipment Corporation, originally released in 1975 in order to connect two PDP-11 minicomputers. It evolved into one of the first peer-to-peer network architectures, thus transforming DEC into a networking powerhouse in the 1980s...
Routing Protocol, the IBM Systems Network Architecture (SNA) protocol and many others) prior to the dominance of IP, Cisco had developed a strong degree of multiple protocol support due to their headstart in the marketplace. This advantage enabled Cisco's routers to handle diverse enterprise needs and effectively prevented Wellfleet from gaining sufficient traction to overtake Cisco's dominant position in the Layer 3 router marketplace. At their pinnacle, Wellfleet had about 15-20% of the router market.
Seeking a way to continue to grow the company, Wellfleet had engaged with SynOptics to develop a router "blade" that was embedded within the SynOptics LattisNet Hub. At approximately the same time, Cisco partnered with Cabletron Systems
Cabletron Systems
Cabletron Systems was a major New Hampshire, USA-based provider of networking computer equipment throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Cabletron's design and sales methodologies dramatically reduced the cost of Ethernet networking equipment, covering a wide range of Layer 1 and Layer 2 networking...
to develop a similar routing engine for the MMAC-8 Hub. It appeared at the time that there was a strong market demand for these integrated products, which led Wellfleet to the conclusion that a way to gain a strategic advantage over Cisco would be to merge with SynOptics and thus develop highly integrated hardware and management software. Conceptually, the resulting products could be used by worldwide enterprises, allowing them to deploy a single vendor's hardware from end to end across their network and manage the network with a single vendor's management software.
The resulting merged company, Bay Networks (named as such because Wellfleet was based in Boston, Massachusetts and SynOptics in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, two classic bay cities) largely executed on this strategy, as evidenced by the price it fetched at acquisition by Nortel.
External Links
- Wellfleet co-founder Seifert now driving new business at Avaya
- Hot shots from the past: Paul Severino and the go-go years