In the agreement, IBM Global Services will also provide end-to-end support for the E-Series switch/routers -- including consulting, implementation, and technical assistance center (TAC) support -- for enterprise customers worldwide.

"IBM is driving the benefits of grid computing beyond its academic and research roots and into business enterprises in key industries such as financial markets, life sciences, aerospace, automotive and governments, to name a few," said Thomas A. Knapp, Linux practice principal at IBM. "We have the knowledge and experience to build Linux clusters with large numbers of nodes using IBM technology and are always evaluating innovative Ethernet products. We deployed Force10's E-Series in several grid computing projects. We are pleased with the performance, scalability, reliability and software stability offered by the E-Series platform and will resell them in density and performance-sensitive applications."

"The E-Series has connected hundreds of nodes containing IBM servers and storage systems in numerous grids over the past year," said Marc Randall, president and CEO, Force10 Networks. "We have been able to demonstrate high availability performance and the ability to scale network capacity to meet the high standards set by IBM and its customers. We believe that Force10 is well positioned to serve the grid/clustering needs of Fortune 500 companies by combining best-in-class technology with the proven customer support delivered by IBM -- the world's largest information technology services provider."

Force10 Networks and IBM have also entered into a manufacturing partnership whereby IBM builds the EtherScale ASICs used within the E-Series platform. In addition, Force10 augments the E-Series system with IBM's PowerPC processors. Together, IBM and Force10 deliver high density, high performance solutions, from networking infrastructure through deployment and on to frontline support.